Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare
by Smash King24
Summary: Horrorland is an enchanted theme park open to guests only on one day of the year: October 31st. Strangely, there have been sightings of a mysterious man in a mask allegedly wandering around the park at night. They say that encountering the man in the park brings good fortune and that anyone lucky enough to meet him is rewarded with a valuable prize. Unfortunately for Robin, he won.
1. Fortunate Souls

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** Jumping on the Halloween bandwagon while October is fresh. Hope you guys enjoy.

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Chapter 1: Fortunate Souls

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"And there you have it folks! Let's hear a final round of applause for the biggest Horrorland freak of them all: The Chicken Man!"

The crowd cheered with excitement as the cloaked character on stage spread his wings and gave a magnificent screech. The act was soon followed by a shower of fireworks and explosions, the mysterious Chicken Man taking off and soaring towards the brilliant full moon overhead.

Eventually people started dispersing back to the main area of the theme park, while a couple of janitors climbed up on stage and began cleaning up the mess of popcorn and confetti that had been strewn about. Although a few guests decided to remain behind, the next show wouldn't be on for at least another hour, which was supposed to be the midnight grand finale where all of the freaks of nature would get up on stage and sing some kind of contorted Halloween song.

At least, that's what the brochure said.

"Well that was certainly… something," mumbled Robin as he perused the map that he had picked up at the main gate. "I was expecting the elusive Chicken Man to at least resemble a chicken."

Ask anyone and they would probably tell you that chickens aren't the scariest things in the world. The clever minds behind the Horrorland theme park knew that as well, and thus paid no expense to have their own rendition of a man in a chicken costume resemble something much more grotesque. He had the beak of a vulture, the eyes of a turkey, and the feathers of a crow as dark as the very night itself. Coupled with a bloodcurdling screech and the swift shambling of the way it walked, it was no wonder the guests of the park found the display to be kind of disturbing.

It was Halloween though, so scares were always in good fun.

"I thought it was rather interesting," replied Lucina, looking up at the stage while one of the janitors was busy trying to pry some gum off the bottom of his shoe. "I admire the way in which the Chicken Man moves about with such grace. It must be dreadfully hot under that mask."

Robin kept his face plastered to the paper map, his eyes darting from one colorful attraction to the next. He was hoping that the last show would have been something eye-opening, but so far everything they did had been nothing but some cheap laughs and some even cheaper scares. It's not that he wasn't trying to have a good time; he just felt that some of these attractions were kind of underwhelming.

Every year on the night of the full moon, which typically fell on October 31st, a foggy mist would find itself drifting across the land. With it came an enchanted festival where people could celebrate their fortunes and friendships. More often than not however, people took it upon themselves to use the festival as an excuse to play pranks on their neighbours by dressing up as monsters and scaring the living daylights out of anyone they came across. Throw some candy into the mix and that's pretty much how Horrorland came to be. No one knew who ran the event or where they got their cleverly dressed employees from. Horrorland came and went with the mist, so anyone who was so fortunate enough to see it in person had huge bragging rights, or at least until the next year rolled around.

As it turned out, Robin and Lucina just so happened to be one of these lucky few, along with some other friends who just so happened to be with them at the time. They had heard great things about the event from other Smashers, but once you got past the cotton candy, the guys in skeleton masks, and the dollar store fog machines, the novelty kind of wore off.

The more Robin thought about it, the more he was starting to realize that this festival was nothing but a cheap Halloween party, only with game stands and funhouses. What was even more peculiar was that none of them had to pay a cent to get into this place, which made him wonder how on earth the people who ran this thing even made money.

"Come on, let's take a look around," said Robin, pressing on ahead as he shifted his gaze from the map to the path and then back again.

"Alright, slow down," responded Lucina. "No need to rush."

They made their way back out to street, people all around them occupying themselves with whatever colorful booth had stolen their attention. A group of teenagers were hanging out by one of the punch stands, while a young couple were currently busy trying to calm their screaming child down. Meanwhile, a funky rendition of "This Is Halloween" was playing idly in the background, the still air of the atmosphere allowing the artificial fog to roll across the ground, creating an illusion that hid everyone's feet in a blanket of clouds.

"Do you think we'll run into him?" asked Lucina.

"Run into who?" Robin wasn't really paying attention as he continued to locate a much more intriguing attraction.

"Dr. Z." Lucina pressed a finger to the shadowy man who had been unprofessionally photoshopped to the corner of the map. He had a hood over his head with a beaklike mask that covered everything above his mouth. His body, although draped in black and purple stripes, was posed ever so mysteriously, enticing Horrorland guests to grab his metallic hand as it appeared to reach out from the very paper it was embedded on.

Besides the main attractions, there was a mini game that the park played with all of its attendees known as the Dr. Z Meet and Greet Contest. The man in the mask, Dr. Z, presumably wandered about the park, blending in with crowds, and acting as a mere shadow among the masses of thrill seekers. His duty was to remain inconspicuous, only stepping out of the darkness to confront lucky winners of the contest, where he would then present to them a prize that apparently was yet to be announced but supposedly was worth a lot of money. Simply put, it was a game of chance, and in a park with hundreds of guests, the odds of either Robin or Lucina being chosen out of the pack seemed rather low.

"Doubtful," replied Robin plainly. "I'd expect the secret prize to be something like discounted tickets for next year's festival, or perhaps even a buy-one-get-one-free ticket at the Greasy Cauldron. Besides, the odds are a hundred to one."

"Never been one for gambling I take it?"

"Only when I'm sure I'll win." He smirked.

"I hope we get a chance to see him," said Lucina, her eyes catching a zombified clown giving out bloody meat balloons to a group of children. "Maybe it'll bring us good luck."

Although she didn't want to admit it, the thought of encountering Dr. Z in the wilderness was somehow exciting to Lucina. He was kind of a celebrity around this time of year, although very few people ever got to meet him, let alone play his game. He was like a spirit, passing through the streets, looking for some fortunate soul to sink his fanglike teeth into. It may have been a game of luck, but it was still fun to think about.

As Robin and Lucina walked, various game stand operators were calling out to them, trying to entice them to give their completely fair and totally not one-sided games a try.

"Step right up!" shouted a mustached man in a striped vest. "Step right this way! Hey you, young fella!"

Robin had his head down and continued walking, only to be stopped when Lucina tapped him on the shoulder. It took him a moment to realize that someone was trying to get his attention.

"I think that man is trying to talk to us," said Lucina, gesturing to the stranger behind the counter.

"Who, me?" asked Robin, noticing the man and pointing a thumb at himself.

"Yes you!" replied the man, using his cane to point at one of the stuffed animals he had hanging around his booth. "How'd you like to win a cute octopus for your sweetheart there?"

Robin nearly dropped his map at the man's words out of embarrassment.

"Ugh," he blurted. "Wait, she's not my—"

"Could we?" asked Lucina, wrapping her arm around his. They weren't "sweethearts" by any means, although she had to admit the thought did sound very nice. "I mean, unless you don't want to."

"Hey, I see that look in your eyes!" called the man. "Step right up and take a shot! Horrorland is home to one of many games of skill!"

"You really want to do this?" asked Robin. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of playing one of these childish games. They were probably going to make him toss a ball in a jar, or throw some generic object only to knock down a stack of more generic objects.

"Why are you so indecisive all the time?" was Lucina's response, and she kind of sounded disappointed with that remark. They had been in the theme park for only a few hours, yet they had really only seen a small handful of attractions. There was so much to do here yet Robin found himself thinking about what to do rather than just doing things. He was never happy with just settling for a yes or no answer if it meant he had to think about other possibilities. It was really just a bad habit being the war tactician that he was and it was surprising to Lucina that even during his downtime he could never truly relax until he had all the pieces of an equation tucked safely away in his robe sleeve.

Still, even if she was correct, he didn't want to hear those words.

"I'm not indecisive all the time," he replied. "I just… figured we could spend our time doing something more productive."

"Let's get a move on, son," said the man in the booth. "The night won't be young forever!"

"Alright, hold your horses," called Robin, grasping Lucina's hand and walking her to the booth. The sudden movement made her heart jump, but she was just thankful that Robin agreed to play.

Robin and Lucina were kind of in that awkward phase where they were really good friends, but kind of had a thing for each other while the other one didn't really know about it. Call it a high school crush, but neither of them were really comfortable acknowledging their feelings. Robin especially always preferred to play more conservatively, vouching to only make a move if he detected Lucina was in the mood at all. By contrast, Lucina's feelings tended to be pretty prominent, but she had a hard time expressing them. Having known him since she was a little girl, she always kept Robin in a special place in her heart.

And by the gods, if he was going to do anything for her tonight, he was going to win her a prize in one of the park's game booths. The mere thought of such an act was enough to make her tingle with excitement.

"Glad you wised up," said the mustached man, twiddling a dart between his fingers. "I was beginning to think you were going to let this poor girl walk home without an octopus."

"Nah, I'm not that coldblooded," replied Robin calmly.

"Not as coldblooded as an octopus!" blurted the man, followed by a slap on the knee and a chortle of laughs and hiccups.

Speaking of octopi, this booth had some really weird prizes hanging above their heads. Sure there were cuddly octopi ranging from red to blue with bulging eyes and fuzzy tentacles, but there were also some not-so-cuddly objects as well, like stuffed skulls with drooping eyeballs, spiders with plastic fangs, zombies with squeezable hearts, and warlocks with humanlike hair on their beards. In truth, the octopi looked like the only normal prizes out of the lot.

"So how do you play?" asked Lucina.

"A fine question that is with an even finer answer," replied the man. "All you have to do is throw the dart at one of my dartboards! Where you land doesn't matter, just so long as you hit it home. Choose the right dartboard, and my friend, you got yourself a prize!"

Lucina glanced past the man, noticing there were three orange and black dartboards lined up next to each other.

"Wait, so I only have to throw one?" replied Robin, picking up a dart and examining its needle-like exterior. He was no expert, but he recalled that traditional games of darts only revolved around throwing multiple darts at a single dartboard trying to land as many bullseyes as possible. In this scenario, he was given just one dart and multiple dartboards to throw it at. "And it doesn't matter which board I pick?"

"Doesn't matter where you land it so long as you do," said the man sharply. "Pick the right dartboard and the octopus is yours. Pick the wrong one… and well, you might be able to walk away with something under the counter."

"So it's a game of chance then," said Robin flatly. Lucina noticed as well that, much like Dr. Z's Meet and Greet Contest, this game was yet another one inspired by Lady Luck herself. They might as well have put a ball under a set of mixed cups, or played a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Couldn't they have come up with something more original, or something that at least took a little bit of skill?

"Well, not entirely," replied the man. "You still have to hit one of the boards. It's not that easy for some folks, believe me!"

"Sounds easy enough," said Lucina. "Go on, Robin; you can do it."

The smile she gave him threw whatever doubts he had about this game out the window. Sure it was just all luck, but perhaps that made things a little easier? With three dartboards, he had a one and third chance of picking the right one and it's not like he had anything to lose anyway.

"Alright," said Robin, holding up his dart. "Let's go for it."

"Ready?" The man behind the counter raised a hand. "On your mark… Get set…"

"Wait!" called a voice from behind.

Robin and Lucina glanced back to see Pit and Ness run up to the stand, both of them carrying junk food in their hands such as cotton candy and popcorn. They were also drenched in perspiration for some reason.

"Hey guys; where were you two?" asked Lucina.

"We just got off the Demon Coaster!" exclaimed Pit, almost dropping his candy in the process.

"And before that we rode the Spooktacular Swirly!" chimed Ness.

"And then the Horror Bounce House!"

"And the Monster Madness Show!"

"And the Creepy Coffin Castle!"

"And the Furry—"

"Wow, it sounds like you did a lot," muttered Robin, although the two kept going on and on as Lucina and him both stared at them blankly.

"You guys should have come with us!" said Ness. "We walked on almost every ride!"

"No, it's fine," replied Lucina. "Roller coasters aren't really my thing anyways."

"Same here," said Robin, the mere thought of such an attraction giving him shivers. He wasn't really one for high thrill rides.

"Well you gotta at least check out the parade with us later," said Pit. "Oh! And the Freaky Freak Show Grand Finale!"

"We just got back from their last show actually," replied Robin. "We got to see the um… Chicken Man."

"The Chicken Man?" said Ness with a shake of his head. "Naw man, that guy's lame. The Wolf Man's the one that's really scary. I'm still waiting to meet Dr. Z."

"Us as well," said Lucina. "Maybe if we split up again there might be a better chance of running into him."

It was an idea sure, but Lucina knew that it would be the perfect excuse for her to spend more time with Robin. Not that she didn't mind the company of the boys, but when all she did was fight every week in the tournaments, any off time was precious time, and Lucina wanted to take full advantage of that.

"What do you think the prize is for meeting him?" asked Ness curiously.

"Probably an octopus," replied Robin, earning a chuckle from the man behind the counter.

"Hey, you kids wanna play too?" said the man suddenly. "I got more darts right here!"

"Boy would I!" responded Pit with excitement. "I'm the king of carnival games!"

"I think the king of luck would have a better chance at this," said Robin slyly.

Soon enough, Pit and Ness were both up at the counter wielding a small dart each. Robin took to his position next to them and aimed his sights down at the bullseye of the dartboard on the left, which was just the one directly in front of him. It didn't take him long for him to get into his "mode."

" _The shortest distance will give me the highest chance of success_ ," thought Robin, analyzing his target. " _In a game of chance, any board is as correct as the next one, thus my odds shouldn't change regardless of which board I pick. At least in this case, the chances of me screwing up the throw should be minimal. I just hope those two don't pick the same one that I do…_ "

Lucina watched him as he stood there silently calculating every possible result that could play out from this situation. She admired how serious he approached every problem despite how trivial some may seem. It was no wonder why he was known as Ylisse's most powerful tactician, gifted with the mind of a mathematician, and the hands of the world's most honest thief. Even if he was overanalyzing the problem here, it at least gave his mind something to munch on.

"Um…" mumbled Pit. "Is it just me, or is Robin getting a little too into this?"

The man behind the counter raised his hand.

"On your mark… Get set… Throw!"

All three players fired their darts, oddly enough all striking a different dartboard. Robin's ended up just where he planned in would, which was right dead center in the bullseye. Ness also had landed his in the center of the board in front of him, while Pit's had gone off course, but still hit the outskirts of the boards nevertheless.

"We have a winner!" cheered the man, earning a joyful clap from Lucina. He reached up and plucked an octopus from overhead, handing the stuffed toy over to Ness. "Congratulations lad on coming in first place!"

"Seriously? I won!?" replied Ness in surprise.

Robin shrugged. It turned out the real dartboard was the one in the middle, or the one that Ness had been standing in front of. Apparently, today wasn't his lucky day.

"And second place goes to…" The man pulled out a stuffed pumpkin with a goofy face from under the counter. "This boy with the funny feathers!"

Obviously he was referring to Pit, who accepted his prize with glee.

"Alright!" he cheered. "Did you see that Lady Palutena? I got second place!"

"Good job," said Robin, giving a small clap. He wasn't expecting there to be more than one winner at all, but it looks like whoever was in charge of this whole charade just felt like rubbing some more of it in his face. He was really bummed that he lost at the thought that he wasn't able to win Lucina anything.

"And finally in third place…" said the man, reaching beneath the counter.

"Hm? I won as well?" asked Robin.

"Of course, son," replied the man. "You hit the target didn't you? And square on the nose as well! Now let me see, where did I put those—Aha!" The man produced a small white box, handing it over to Robin with a wink. "You get the best prize of all!"

Robin examined the box, lifting it up and peering at it from different angles, while Lucina also crept up next to him and tried to decipher the value in this prize. The front of the box was decorated with black markings, patterns varying from random characters to lines and squiggles that didn't even form words.

"What is it?" asked Lucina.

"Why, it's a deck of playing cards of course!" replied the man casually.

Robin frowned. So much for getting Lucina something cuddly to remember him by.

"Can I trade this for something else?" asked Robin. "Like that zombie, or the spider?"

"Sorry son, no can do," replied the man. "Besides…" He leaned over the counter, putting a hand up to the side of his mouth as if he was whispering something. "These cards aren't just any cards. They're lucky cards. Use these in any game at a casino and you'll find yourself raking in the dough faster than my grandma can scare the neighbourhood kids off her porch."

After this night, Robin wasn't sure if he ever wanted to hear the word "lucky" again.

His hesitation to respond was more than enough of a sign for Lucina to know that he wasn't completely satisfied with this result. It really wasn't worth having a fuss over though since like Robin said, it was just a game of chance. He flipped a coin and lost. That's all there is to it.

"Alright, well thank you for the game sir," said Lucina, tugging Robin along back towards the main street. "Have a goodnight. Come along boys."

Ness and Pit followed them, saying good-bye to the man behind the counter who waved them off with a cheerful laugh.

"Goodnight you all!" called the man. "And Happy Halloween!"

"A deck of playing cards, can you believe this?" said Robin, shoving the box into his robe sleeve. "You can pick up the same thing at the dollar store."

"Hey, it's not all bad Robin," replied Pit. "At least now you can participate in the Smash Bros. Euchre tournaments every Thursday night!"

"I'm sorry I couldn't win you anything Lucina," said Robin, ignoring the angel boy's comment. "I tried. I really did."

"It's okay." Lucina gave him a warm smile, which thankfully turned his frown upside-down. "I'm just glad to be able to spend time with you..." It took her a moment to realize the implications of that last sentence, and so she quickly tried to cover up her feelings. "And the boys. You and Ness, and Pit as well eheh."

"You gotta work on that Lucy," commented Ness, who was currently indulging in a candy corn slushy.

"Yeah, I suppose so," replied Robin, laughing his disappointments away. "I guess this is for the better. I'd rather win at a game that actually required skill."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" cried Pit, who was apparently quite proud of himself coming in second place.

"Ah, never mind." Robin went back to looking at his map, using the nearby statue of a vulture to pinpoint their location among the passing crowds. "Let's see here… Anything close by that we can do?"

Ness tossed his junk food in a nearby trashcan only to suddenly find himself dancing on his feet.

"Um, before we do anything, I gotta go to the bathroom," he said hastily.

"Huh, well it looks like there's some facilities right over there," replied Robin, pointing to a building among some cobweb-infested trees. "Bathroom break it is then?"

"Sounds good to me!" chimed Pit. "I gotta go too!"

Pit and Ness immediately bolted to the restrooms, shoving past whoever got in their way and almost trampling a man in a monkey suit who was trying to scare some teenagers on a bench.

"Give me a few minutes as well," said Lucina.

"Take your time," replied Robin. "I'm going to look for another attraction."

Lucina jogged off, leaving the Ylissean tactician all to his lonesome. Even among the bypassing thrill seekers and creepy Halloween music, Robin really wasn't at all fazed by the theme park. After going through the things he did in Ylisse during the Grima Crisis, he'd be surprised if there was anything in this park that could actually scare him. While he waited for his friends to finish, he took the liberty of standing in a nearby clearing to look over his map again. He was still surprised by the sheer size of this place, and there was still the whole eastern end they hadn't even visited yet.

As he continued to stare at his pamphlet, he felt a sudden chill in the air. It hit him like breeze of wind since it was a pretty warm night for Halloween. When he looked up from his map, he was met face to face with the beadlike eyes of a strange man in a mask.

"Um… Hello?" said Robin, somewhat surprised at how close the man was to him.

"Hello indeed!" shouted the man, taking a step back and spinning around. "And what a nice night it is for a hello! I could just say it over and over again! Hello! Hello! Hello!"

The masked man, dressed head to toe in what appeared to be a black and purple striped cloak, pranced around with talons on his feet, his arms so skinny and long that they appeared to be almost artificial. Coupled with the hood, and Robin could have possibly mistaken him for one of the most deranged looking magicians to ever walk the earth.

"Hello…" said Robin again, although he didn't quite know how to respond to this. The man's voice was loud, machinelike, protruding from his vocal chords as if he were speaking through a crumpled microphone. A few onlookers had stopped to watch this exciting scene, and still the man kept dancing around like he was high on life.

"Say it again!" cheered the man. "Hello! Hello! Hello, hello, hello!"

"Hello, hi, what's going on here?" replied Robin, already feeling somewhat annoyed by this man's presence.

"Why, don't you know?" said the man dramatically, gasping in shock as if he were in some kind of stage performance. "It's Halloween in Horrorland! And you know what that means? It means it's time to announce the winner of Dr. Z's Meet and Greet Contest!"

"Dr. Z?" Robin glanced down at his map, noticing the picture of Dr. Z in the corner yet again. He looked back up, confirming that the resemblance was terribly uncanny. "You're Dr. Z?"

"The one and only!" replied Dr. Z. "Although, I'd appreciate it if you called me Dr. 'Zed'. Rolls off the tongue better that way if you ask me."

Robin couldn't believe it. Just when he thought his luck had run out, here he was standing face to face with the king of Horrorland himself, the Dr. Z!

"Oh my gosh, does this mean I won?" he asked eagerly.

"It sure does!" Dr. Z let out a howl, followed by another crazy lunge and a backflip. "The lucky person who I approach this night will be crowned the winner of my contest! And you my good man, are that lucky person! Give yourself a pat on the back for being so lucky!" He turned to the crowd. "Give yourselves all a pat on the back for witnessing this event!"

The people in the background patted each other on the back, although Robin didn't expect Dr. Z meant for them to do that literally.

"Now my friend, I'd like to take the time to present to you your prize, however—"

"Wait," said Robin. "Before I accept, can we wait for my friends to get back? They're just in the—"

"Now hold on a second!" cried Dr. Z. "I can't just hand over the prize just like that you know. There are other rules to this game!"

"What other rules? I thought that whoever found you got to claim your valuable prize."

"If you read the fine print, you'll see that there is one catch." The strange doctor began dancing around again. "One catch! One catch! There's just one catch! Let me hear you!"

The people in the audience soon began chanting, "One catch" alongside Dr. Z, which was honestly giving Robin the creeps. Was this all part of the game too?

"Fine print?" he muttered, looking down at his map again. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that beneath the picture of Dr. Z, there was some small writing that read, "All contestants must be physically, mentally, and emotionally able to answer a series of questions before accepting the prize. All prizes are non-refundable and nonexchangeable."

This of course earned another frown from Robin.

"Are you serious?" he said. "Very well then; let's just get this over with."

"Ooh, I like that attitude!" replied Dr. Z. "Tell you what! I'll give you one question that you have to answer right here and now. If you get that right, then you can bypass all the other questions and just accept your prize right away!"

" _That's sounds almost too good_ ," thought Robin internally. "So what happens if I answer wrong?"

"Then you answer the other questions just as any other winner would. I'm tryin' to cut you a deal here kid, so take it while it's hot! Take it while it's hot!"

The crowd joined in with the chanting as well, which was quite possibly one of the worst forms of peer pressure imaginable. Still, if answering this first question wrong had no repercussions, then there was no harm in answering it at all then was there? Robin knew this for a fact, thus he trusted his instincts and took the deal while it was apparently still hot.

"I'll take you up on that offer," said Robin. "Hit me with your best shot."

He wasn't one to be cocky, but sometimes he couldn't help but let his ego get to his head. He was the reigning champion on Jeopardy nights in Ylisse for two months straight at one point, thus both his experience as a tactician and common knowledge were likely able to overcome whatever question Dr. Z had lined up for him.

"That's what I like to hear!" shouted Dr. Z. "Silence please!"

A great hush soon fell upon the crowd, the doctor in question doing some weird dances while the fog machines helped to play up whatever dramatic effect he was getting at. If he was trying to scare him, Robin was fine with holding his ground, as he maintained a straight and emotionless stare that even an experienced poker player couldn't match.

"Robin! Here is your question!" said the doctor.

" _Did he just say my name?_ " thought Robin.

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10. What is it?"

The dead silence wore on steadily for what seemed like eons while Robin gave a cockeyed look at Dr. Z. Was that seriously the question? Another guessing game?

"This has got to be a trick," said Robin. "There's no way—"

"No trick!" replied Dr. Z., arching his beaklike head towards the moon. "Ten numbers, ten possibilities! Give me your answer… now!"

The sound of a large clock ticking could immediately be heard coming from somewhere in the distance, but Robin couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was. More importantly, he was running out of time, but any guess could have been as good as the next one.

" _I know nothing about him_ ," thought Robin. " _1, 2, 3, any number could be the number he's thinking of. And with only a 10% chance, a blind guess is just a losing one. Regardless, the average person will still choose either 4 or 7 as their number, which still leaves me at such little choice…_ "

"Five seconds," said Dr. Z. "Three seconds. One—"

"4!" answered Robin. "Your number is 4! Right?"

Dr. Z's giddy and overly excited expression immediately twisted into a look of shock. The people watching were as silent as the grave, while Dr. Z himself appeared to be at some sort of standstill in his usual outbursts. His reaction could only be interpreted as good news for Robin, which earned a sly smirk from the tactician and a glare that said, "I figured you out. Now cough up my reward."

What happened next however, wasn't at all what Robin was expecting. For as disappointed as Dr. Z looked, he ended up just shrugging it off like it wasn't anything worth worrying about. Robin didn't even get a chance to respond though because the next thing he knew, someone had smashed him on the back of the head with something heavy. He fell to the cloudy ground out cold, the menacing Dr. Z looming over him like a demon read to claim his share of newly departed.

"Sorry kid," he said with a sneer. "Today just isn't your lucky day."


	2. Let the Games Begin

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay guys. A shout-out thanks goes to bladewielder05, zcluelessz97, pokemonrhoades, MahNati, Flame Falcon, Kinkajou321, snowxfairy, JintoSpice, Light My Crazy Diamond, and xXRussianBearXx. Oh, and Light My Crazy Diamond, thanks for pointing out that typo in chapter 1. Not sure if I had a chance to get back to you but here it is just in case. Thanks a million to all my readers out there and enjoy!

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Chapter 2: Let the Games Begin

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There were footsteps, shouting, all coupled with a bloodcurdling scream that forcefully pulled Robin out of whatever psychotic dream he was having. The sudden throbbing from a welt on his head was making it difficult to focus, but through his foggy vision he could make out some flashing lights, although whatever Halloween music that was previously playing had ceased long ago.

Silently, he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling for a moment before regaining his balance. He recognized this place as the infamous Horrorland, home to one of many demented freaks and cheap carnival games. Miraculously, activity in the park appeared to have drastically diminished, with zero evidence of there being any guests save for a few scraps of litter. For some reason, the park seemed to be much darker than before, the circus lights that had been strung up now all completely shot out. If it were not for the crimson spotlights coming from the tall vulture statue, Robin could have easily mistaken this place for something more akin to Brinstar's Depths, or even Hell for that matter.

And he was all alone.

"Lucina!" called Robin. He dared not enter the fog, for at least here in the clearing he had some comforting light. "Pit! Ness, where are you?" He took a few steps, noticing that the ground was awfully soft for cement. With the fog now transitioned from the ground to the air, he realized that whatever pavement was here had been previously replaced with some kind of organic tissue. Somehow, the environment had taken on a completely different form, the artificial scariness of the whole festival now alive with a fresh new coat of paint that embodied the very essence of the amusement park's name.

Please let this all be a dream.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up!"

Robin nearly jumped out of his skin upon hearing the mechanical voice from afar. He recognized the person calling out to him as none other than Dr. Z, who was perched on one of the park's broken streetlights. What was even more peculiar was the fact that Dr. Z was lying on his side atop the fixture, which was realistically impossible given the fact that the light was far too thin for any normal person to stand on.

"You…" said Robin, immediately recognizing the dark man in the mask. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?" replied the doctor, stretching his ear out to outlandish sizes before it sprung back to its original state. "You answered wrong on the last question! So now you have to play the game just like everyone else. Just like everyone else!"

Robin was having a hard time understanding whatever point he was trying to make. Nowhere in the rules did it state that if he got the question wrong he would be transported to some twisted reimagining of Horrorland. It's not like the question was even fair to begin with!

"Now hold on a second," said Robin. "I didn't agree to any of this!"

"You did when you accepted my challenge," replied Dr. Z casually, admiring his metallic fingernails. "Sorry boy, but once you have been chosen by Dr. Z, you have to play his game from its beginning to its end." He smirked. "Or from its beginning to _your_ end, if you prefer…"

The sound of painful moaning could be heard coming from below like voices of the undead. Faces of the dearly departed began to rise to the surface, their mouths outstretched, their faces grotesque, their empty eyes holding back the tears of regret created by the dark rulers of Horrorland. With every step back Robin took, he'd only find himself stepping on yet another nameless face, already starting to feel his heartrate jitter as he realized that he was no longer playing a game.

"By the gods…"

"Kind of creepy, eh?" said Dr. Z with excitement. "What you're looking at is the face of every person who happened to stumble upon my contest and lose. These good folks form the backbone of our beloved amusement park. You'd be surprised how many I'm able to snatch every year!"

Everyone knew that Horrorland was like a mist that came and went with the wind. It was unknown however, who owned the park, who worked for it, heck even how the park earned money since entries were always free. It seemed now that guests of Horrorland never had to pay with cash; they only paid with their souls.

The exaggerated friendliness of the whole festival suddenly made sense. The carnival games, the Halloween decorations, the general attractions, it was all a ploy to get people to come to the park. There were rarely any amusement parks open during this time of year, which is precisely why Horrorland thrived as a vacationing spot. How could anyone get away with this though? Surely there must have been reports, stories about missing people who attend one day only to never return to their loved ones come November. By that time, Horrorland becomes nothing but a mirage, an illusion that disappears faster than you could say "Trick or Treat."

"Why are you doing this?" said Robin, tearing his gaze away from the mutated souls beneath him. "Just… Who are you?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" asked Dr. Z, who was currently balancing himself atop the streetlight with an outstretched arm. He did a twirl before jumping to his feet, leaning to the side like a professional mime that was having a drink at an invisible bar. "I am Dr. Z, king of Horrorland, and terror of the night! Some call me a legend." He pulled his cloak in front of him, covering the lower half of his face so that only the beak was exposed. "Others call me a myth." He threw out his arms, spreading his wings out like a hawk preparing to dive. "To you, I'm just your host for tonight's main event. So if you have any other questions for me, shout 'em out now or forever hold your piece."

There was no denying at this point that something unmistakably evil was behind the Horrorland façade. Was this even the same park though? Sure there were some similarities, such as the stands, the barrels, and the leaky water fountain by the facility building. Everything else looked as if Robin had stepped into some kind of mirror realm, or an otherworldly dimension that barely had any ties to the precious place he referred to as reality.

Still, the casual way in which Dr. Z was speaking to him was unsettling to say the least. It was almost as if this whole change in setting was also part of the game…

"So I'm not dreaming then," said Robin. "This is the true face of Horrorland."

"Truer words have never been spoken!" replied Dr. Z. "With every year comes a new batch of souls ripe for harvesting. With these new souls, we can generate enough energy to power our rides, our stage lights, even those giant popcorn machines you might have seen back at the entrance. Unfortunately, the essence of life walks on a thin tightrope, and these old folks die off in a few years or so. That's why we do our best to stock up on as many souls as we can, just in case we find ourselves in a rough spot." He produced strawberry milkshake with what appeared to be a cherry on top, taking a monstrous slurp from the crazy straw that was protruding from it. He followed with a maniacal laugh before shouting, "They also make yummy refreshments!"

Robin noticed a ghostly petrified face staring at him through the tall glass.

"Release them at once!" He pulled out his sword, which he thankfully never left home without. In fact, he had all of his Tomes on him, but nothing ever said "shut up and die already" like a lightning blast from the Levin Sword. He wasn't about to stand around and watch innocents suffer, even if they were just bodiless souls. He saw enough of that when he was back home in Ylisstol.

"What are you gonna do, Robin? Kill me?" The deranged doctor leaned back, as if he were sitting upon an invisible chair. "Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot."

Robin made an attempt to charge a Thoron, which was possibly the deadliest move in his magical arsenal. For some reason however, the sword just wouldn't respond. Normally he would be able to channel his spells through the enchanted weapon, but now it was just acting like a plain old hunk of steel. Not only that, but the other Tomes that he kept securely in his robe were also dead.

"What?" he said, staring at the jagged edge of his weapon. "But how?"

"Here's another little tidbit you ought to be aware of." Dr. Z pulled down a blackboard from seemingly out of nowhere, point at the cartoonish drawing of a stick figure with a pointer that he just so happened to have. "As long as you're here in Horrorland, anything that even remotely resembles magic will not work. That department, my friend, is reserved for yours truly." He pushed the blackboard away. "That includes your sword, your Tomes, heck even Smash Balls if you were bright enough to bring one with you today."

"How do you know so much about me?" asked Robin. It wasn't just his name, but the fact that Dr. Z also knew what Tomes and Smash Balls were made the tactician all the more curious. The average person simply wouldn't even be able to comprehend the amount of power behind those items.

"Because I'm the game master," smirked Dr. Z. "And you're playing my game. You play by my rules, and you will do as I say."

"This game has gone on long enough if you ask me." He held his sword up with both hands. "Magic may be nullified, but steel can still cut, and if I have to climb up there with my own two hands just to kill you then so help me I will. I'm getting out of this park one way or another."

"Aha, but that is exactly what I was going to say next!" replied Dr. Z. He began casually walking down the streetlight, his body perpendicular to the sea of faces below. "Your ticket out of this world has already been booked my boy; all you have to do is claim it at the ticket stand." He planted his feet firmly on the ground, standing a mere few meters away from Robin. "As you may have heard before, Horrorland is home to one of many games of skill! All you have to do is accept."

"What's to stop me from accepting then?" said Robin. "What's to stop me from just walking up to you right now and stabbing you in the heart?"

"Three things actually!" Dr. Z held up three skeletal fingers, but he did not remove his empty gaze from the tactician. "One! That I'm simply too fast for you to hit. I mean, come on, you just saw me walk down a streetlight. I could easily manipulate the dimensions around your sword to just step aside without much effort. Two! That I'm certain you would be much more interested in what I have here than what you'd rather do with me…" He revealed the inside of his cloak with his other arm, showcasing three fabric dolls that looked very familiar.

"No…"

Robin nearly dropped his weapon in shock. There beneath the talons of Dr. Z's claw, were dolls made to resemble that of his friends. Lucina, Ness, Pit, aside from the button eyes, the stitched mouths, and the tattered clothing, were no mistake. The dolls were lifelike, handmade, something that one might see hanging on the wall of a witchdoctor's hut. Not to mention they were just plain creepy. From Lucina's leafy butterfly mask to Pit's seagull feather wings, these incarnations of Robin's friends have been mended to the very last detail.

"Your friends are here, Robin," said Dr. Z. "They are here in Horrorland just as you are standing before me. Don't worry; these dolls aren't voodoo dolls or anything. I just thought they would be a great way to get the message across to you." He held them up to eye level, admiring the craftsmanship behind the collection. "I must say though, I think I did a darn good job at making these. I even painted a silver toothpick just for Lucina's sword!"

"Let them go," responded Robin, urging himself to contain the rage that was rising within him. He took a few steps forward, sword at the ready.

"Ah ah ah, what did I just say!" Dr. Z covered the dolls back up, holding out a waving finger. "You can't hurt me, and as long as you're here in Horrorland, you have to play by the rules! And believe me when I say that your friends are safe. They just… won't be for long so I suggest you shut up and stop wasting time. Stop wasting time!"

"Fine, I'll play!" shouted Robin. "Just promise me that you won't hurt them."

"Whether or not I hurt them is entirely up to you." He smirked. "But I can see that you're still kind of confused by all of this, so I'll just go ahead and explain the rules already." He put a monocle to his eye, making himself look like some kind of professor. "As a player in my game, your job will be to overcome a series of trials using your body and mind. As you progress to each trial, I will give you a specific set of guidelines that you can use to overcome the tests, hints if you prefer. What lies for you at the end of this whole thing is a one-way ticket back to the real world, where you can have your normal life back! Sound easy enough?"

So it was like he said earlier, back when the only question Robin had to answer was the best number out of ten. These trials he spoke about must have been the tests that other guests have had to attempt in the past… before they were turned into rotting souls that littered the pavement. If freedom was his ticket however, that still left one question unanswered.

"Where do my friends fit into all of this?"

"Your friends are going to participate in your trials," replied Dr. Z. "If I say anything more than that, I'll just spoil it for you, so I'll let you find out what I mean on your own!" He looked off in some other direction. "I've actually had a lot of complaints from guests about spoilers in the past, so now I try to refrain for saying anything at all if I can help it."

Participate in the trials? The answer was a little vague, but at least he could assume that his friends were still alive. As for how much longer they had, well, Dr. Z wasn't exactly giving him a lot of hope for that.

"So what do you say, Robin?" said Dr. Z. "You up for the challenge?"

"If it means saving my friends and getting out of here…" he paused momentarily. "Then yes. I accept your challenge. You better not try and pull a fast one on me though. My patience wears thin with each passing second."

"Oh no no no! I wouldn't dare do such a thing!" Dr. Z seemed rather taken aback by this thought. "Like I said, all of Horrorland's games are won with skill! So if you consider yourself good enough, then you shouldn't have a hard time at all getting through the trials."

"More like games of chance," retorted Robin. "You asked me to guess a number between 1 and 10."

"Really?" said Dr. Z peculiarly. "I thought that one was a given. Everyone knows nine times out of ten the answer is 7. What kind of square-brained contestant picks an obscure number like 4?"

"That still doesn't change the fact that—"

"Oh! I almost forgot to mention that there's one last thing that prevents you from just breaking the rules and waltzing up to kill me." He laughed. "I didn't think I would have to say anything since you've already accepted the challenge at this point. It's really just a last resort kind of deal."

Robin whirled around upon hearing the sound of a revving chainsaw coming from somewhere in the mist. The buzz was followed by an echoing screech, sending an icicle down his spine as he felt his muscles tense up and the grip on his Levin Sword tighten even more.

"That's odd," said Dr. Z. "He was supposed to wait for me to say three, two, one, go. So much for the big surprise…"

"What the hell is that thing?" said Robin, although he had a feeling that he already knew.

"You know the Chicken Man they have performing in the freak shows tonight? Yeah, I kind of hired him to help give you a little boost in spirit if you were being too indecisive about the whole challenge thing. It's kind of unnecessary now, but there's no point in letting him go to waste."

The chainsaw could be heard cutting through a chain-link fence, the metal blades shrieking while the cries of a sick man in a bird mask shook the air. Through the mist, they could hear bins falling over, wooden game stands shattering to pieces, and the scratching of razor-sharp talons on metallic ground as the madman approached.

"Any more questions?" asked Dr. Z hastily.

"Yeah, how do I get rid of this thing?" replied Robin, his gaze fixed on the shadow in the fog.

"You can't," said the deranged man with a chuckle. "You can try to, but you'll only end up getting yourself killed. He's not part of the trials, he's just… a little motivation to help keep you on your feet."

The Chicken Man leaped out of the void, hunched over with a twisted neck and a beak agape with the remains of flesh and bone dangling from his teeth. By contrast from his creepy appearance in the shows, this rendition looked downright horrifying, his eyes bulging with adrenaline, the talons of his claws clenched tightly around the rusty chainsaw. His normally yellow and white feathers were now drenched with blood, and it stunk like a road-killed deer that had been run over numerous times under the sun. The jaw appeared to be unhinged, the man behind the mask now looking more monster than human, although in all honesty Robin couldn't tell the difference in the first place.

He heard Dr. Z shout the signal for the game to begin, but at that point Robin wasn't even thinking about that. He just felt his heart pumping like mad, his ears almost bleeding as the screeches rung throughout his head. His feet were moving on their own, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn't escape the dreaded sound of the chainsaw's cry.


	3. A Test of Endurance

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** Thanks to Paradigm of Writing, Alex the Smasher, MahNati, Light My Crazy Diamond, JintoSpice11, and NicktheGreek for taking the time to leave some though-out reviews. I really appreciate it and your feedback means a lot to me. Most of the reviewers kind of mentioned the same thing last chapter so I'm going to address it here: This story comes off like something out of a Saw movie, however I'm going to try my best to make it original on its own. I've personally never seen any of those movies, but I think I have an idea of what they're all about. Most people seem to have a dislike for that series (even among horror fans) so I hope the same vibe doesn't come off of this story. Anyway, thanks for reading and let's continue.

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Chapter 3: A Test of Endurance

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A game stand, a foil curtain, and a pile of blood-filled barrels weren't enough to satisfy the maniac's thirst for blood. With every obstacle that he ran through, Robin was hoping that somehow, someway it would impede Mr. Chicken's rampage, but the revving cries of metal razors was like a symphony of the night. Despite the deranged creature's size, it was deceptively swift, being able to both climb and jump over anything in its path with ease, doing whatever it took to sink its teeth into the tactician's cold flesh.

" _I can't outrun it._ " Robin's eyes darted all around, but any facility he found was appearing way too fast for him to consider taking shelter. If only there wasn't so much fog! " _I have to hide, but where?_ "

The monster's screeches were gaining on him through the mist, but he could barely hear it due to his cloudy head. There was an absurd amount of static in the air, like the kind one would hear on a faulty radio station, only this crinkle-crackle was more intrusive than a microphone with a blown speaker. As the sound got louder, he could feel his instincts telling him that only meant the creature was closer, and thus he had no choice but to take shelter somewhere, if any area in this unholy theme park could even be considered safe.

"Keep going; you're almost there! I'd hate for you to lose so early in the game."

It was the voice of that madman Dr. Z, and he sounded like he was somewhere overhead. Or was he behind him? In any case, Robin had no choice but to press forward, although he wasn't exactly sure what it was he was supposed to be looking for.

There through the shadows, the large face of a clown could be seen emerging from the fog. The plastic white face was as big as a house, the clown's shiny red nose practically blending in with all the crimson moisture in the air. Its mouth was wide open, beckoning for park guests to walk right in to its house of fun, while the star-colored eyes whirled around with glee.

"A funhouse," muttered Robin as he approached the structure. "Of course."

If the eyes weren't creepy enough, the orange and green hair definitely said it all. Over the clown's head, the neon sign sparkled with the words, "Horrorland Funhouse," although one of the o's was burnt out. Robin wasn't very enthusiastic about having to enter what could arguably be the worst alternative possible in an amusement park like this, but one more rev from the approaching chainsaw made him think otherwise. Silently, he dashed into the building, and for once he thought he could hear the crazy laughter finally dying off, now replaced with what sounded like heavy machinery and possibly an air conditioner.

"If that doesn't wake you up in the morning, I don't know what will!" came Dr. Z's voice over the intercom.

Robin ignored him, now reminded of how much irritation that wacky man was giving him. If he somehow managed to get through all these trials, he was going to have a fun time putting that lunatic in his place.

As far as the interior of the funhouse went, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Surprisingly, there were a few friendly things to check out here, such as some distorted mirrors (the kind you look in only to see a big-headed version of yourself) and flowers on the walls that sprayed water and smoke. Past all this however, came the main attraction behind Horrorland Funhouse.

"Step right this way! Have fun in the maze!" came an artificial voice coming from an even more artificial clown man. The animatronic host was leaned against a sign, nodding his head back and forth while his mouth rambled on like some kind of drunken dummy. The clown itself bore a similar look to the face of the building, which again wasn't very pleasant to look at to say the least. It kept repeating its programmed lines, pointing to the sign it was leaning on that read, "Parents with small children must keep them close by at all times," along with a few other safety regulations that were obsolete in this mirror world.

Robin stood at the maze's entrance, which was a narrow hallway that split off into two paths with a shining arrow pointing in either direction. There were other colorful signs meant to confuse park guests as to where the exit was, but Robin knew better than to let any of that get to his head. If he was going to compete in these twisted games and see them through from beginning to end, he had to make sure to keep his cool.

Stay calm.

Take a deep breath.

And always check your back.

He glanced around just in case the Chicken Man decided to pay him another unwanted visit.

"Right, let's see here," came Dr. Z's voice. He sounded as though he was filing through a stack of papers. "Ah, okay." He cleared his throat. "Welcome to Horrorland Funhouse, where all your horror needs are just a small intestine's length away. Please be advised that all Horrorland guests are to remain with their party and any small children and/or small pets must be accompanied by at least one adult. Women who are pregnant are also advised to wait in one of the designated waiting rooms for their group to finish… assuming the maze doesn't finish them first!" He gave a small chuckle. "Enjoy your day in the funhouse folks… for it just might be your last."

Robin huffed, looking at his sword before sheathing it. He didn't give any response to Dr. Z.

"Sorry about that," said the doctor all of a sudden. "It's our policy here to go over all the safety rules and whatnot."

"I figured as much," replied Robin as he continued to stare down the dark entrance of the maze. "I also fail to see the point."

"You're not one for fun are you? Let's cut to the chase then!"

The cogs turning underground roared to life, the path before Robin suddenly becoming illuminated with a crimson light. It was like a gateway leading to the unknown, the bidirectional arrow up ahead now tipping and tilting like the pendulum on a clock.

"For your first trial," announced Dr. Z, "you are to traverse the funhouse's maze and reach its exit within the specified timeframe. You are free to use whatever means you wish in order to accomplish that."

" _That sounds way too simple_ ," thought Robin. " _There has to be a catch_."

"That is your primary goal—besides staying alive of course. Your secondary goal—which is completely optional by the way—goes a little something like this: Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a village. His job was to watch over the wolf pups that his father kept in the backyard. Day in and day out, the boy would take care of the animals, but eventually he grew tired of the whole thing. One day he decided to have a little fun with the townsfolk, and came running through the village shouting about a giant chicken that was coming to eat all the wolves." Robin could hear a smirk on the man's lips as he continued talking. "Every day the villagers would come out to fight the chicken only to find that the boy was lying, and that there was no giant chicken after all. He was just fibbing to get some good laughs in. Sound familiar?"

"It's the boy who cried wolf," replied Robin with a puzzled look on his face. "Or, the boy who cried chicken." He wasn't exactly sure why the role of the wolf and the chicken were swapped in this rendition.

"You're right," said Dr. Z. "The townspeople got so fed up with the boy's lies that they just couldn't stand for it anymore. Little did the boy realize that this charade of his was enough to seal his doom, for eventually, a giant chicken _did_ make its way to the village. And let me tell you, when that boy found out about it, and he came running hollering and screaming just like he used to, no one would believe him. He was outcast, shunned from society, driven to the point where he was worth absolutely nothing. It didn't take long for the monster to find him, and when it did, it tore him limb from limb. It tore him in six places to be precise, leaving behind his severed head, arms, and legs for all his friends to see." A chuckle brushed over the intercom. "And that's why, boys and girls, you never tell a lie." Another obnoxious laugh. "Anyway, you will find the boy's remains hidden within the corridors of the funhouse's maze, and it may be in your best interest to pick them up if you get the chance."

His remains? Was that nursery rhyme supposed to be real?

"Why would I have to do such a thing?" Robin asked.

"Because if you don't, you may end up regretting it."

So that was also part of the game then: Find the exit, and also find the body parts belonging to the boy in the story. Robin, however, wasn't really sure what he was expecting to see in that maze. Was he really going to find someone's severed head in there? Or perhaps an arm, or maybe even a leg? And if so, what was he supposed to do with it? He couldn't imagine having to lug excess body parts around, let alone picking them up in the first place.

"Very well," said Robin. "How much time do I have?"

Dr. Z laughed again, just in time for the underground machines to stop whirling. There was a short moment of silence.

"That, my friend, is entirely up to you."

A shrill screech came bellowing in from the funhouse entrance, along with that godforsaken chainsaw hacking its way through some kind of sheet metal.

And just when he thought he ditched the Chicken Man for good.

Robin didn't hesitate to bolt it into the maze, veering off to the left path where he found himself practically running in the dark. All around him were flashing signs and ridiculous Halloween faces, although the further he went, the more those faces began to mutate into something reminiscent of the ground outside. Worst of all, the Chicken Man was dangerously close, now having silenced the animatronic clown from before.

" _Just don't look back!_ " Robin paced himself, keeping his head focused on the objective. So long as he could still hear the Chicken Man, he knew that he just had to keep going forward.

The problem with mazes however, doesn't lie in the moving, but what to do if one comes across a dead end.

The halls seemed to stretch on for miles, although thankfully every sharp turn had some kind of light fixture attached to it to notify him where to go. He could tell that some of the walls were straight up being torn down by the rampant lunatic behind him. By this point, Robin had nearly forgotten about the stray body parts, for all he wanted right now was to just complete the maze so he could put as much space as possible between himself and Mr. Chicken.

" _It's not impossible_ ," he kept telling himself. " _Hand to the wall. Hand to the wall._ "

He was well aware that the fastest way to escape from a maze was to simply follow along one of the walls from beginning to end. This would obviously result in him running into at least a few dead ends, but it was better than arbitrarily choosing a path and hoping for the best.

As he rounded the next bend, he found himself face to face with a dead end complete with a sign that read, " _Turn back or die!_ " He noted however, that the floor before him was lit up due to a spotlight coming from above. There in the middle of the room laid a dull piece of fabric, suspiciously placed in the center of the light. Curiously, he examined the fabric, taking it in hand and feeling its texture. It was thin, damp, and also a worn shade of blue.

" _Hmm…_ "

He made his way back through the maze, all the while trying to pretend there wasn't a deranged chicken chasing after him. As nerve-racking as the creature's cries were, Robin was thankfully gifted with being able to act without letting panic get the best of him. He stuck true to his strategy, continuing to follow along the wall and ignoring all other forces attempting to sway his train of thought. Although, like everyone, Robin still had his limits…

He lost his footing for a moment, tripping over a stray stone that had been carelessly left in the path. It might have been fate however, since as soon as he fell, a blast of fire came scorching over his head, and would have instantly torched him on the spot had he not ducked.

Just as he feared, the place had been rigged with booby traps.

"Nice of you to let me know Dr. Creep," he muttered under his breath. It looked as though he was going to have to be more careful, but he could only move so slowly with the Chicken Man gaining on him. Being unable to see anything that wasn't close to the ground was also a bit of a problem.

It didn't take long for Robin to figure out that this game wasn't totally one-sided. For example, those masks and other despicable decorations on the walls were good hints at where the traps were coming from. Portraits with eyes that followed movement? They had poisonous darts shooting out of their sockets. Giant spiders hanging from the ceiling? Their webs were made of barbed wire. It was only a matter of minutes before Robin was able to come to a sure-fire conclusion that was his ticket to getting out of here: Don't touch anything.

The next stretch of hall was the longest one yet, so Robin made sure to keep his head down in case of falling spikes or flying skulls. By the time he made it to the other side however, Mr. Chicken was already in the corridor, and the bizarre monstrosity now had a clear view of Robin, or at least his feet. With no walls between them, the Chicken Man's screams were in full stereo, and for a second there they almost sounded manlike. Or as close as a man could get if he had his tongue cut out and was getting processed through a meat grinder. Without hesitation, the Chicken Man sprung down the hall, but it was clever enough to stay low in order to prevent the traps from triggering.

Fortunately, Robin was always three steps ahead of the game.

"Let's see how you like this," he said, pulling out his sword and cutting one of the low-hanging spiders from the ceiling. The spiders themselves were fakes, their centers containing some kind of weight in order to keep them from swaying in the case of a draft. They were about the size of a football, weighing no more than baseball, but they packed all the punch of a bowling ball as Robin tossed the spider back down the corridor.

The spider hurled through the air and right over the Chicken Man's head. The eyes of a wall skeleton suddenly began blinking rapidly, triggering a guillotine that dropped from the ceiling right in front of the Chicken Man. The deranged creature came to a halt, staring at the still blade while the chainsaw kept on roaring. More guillotine blades immediately started falling down the hall from one end to the other, the creature giving another shrill cry as the sound of chopping overtook the buzz of the chainsaw.

With the clock still ticking, Robin took his leave, although he did stop to admire his work for a few seconds.

Following his plan, he managed to find some more pieces of fabric on the ground, all of which were hidden within one of the dead ends. He discovered a piece similar to the first one he found: Small, thin, and a ghastly shade of blue. The third piece he managed to find was of a different color, now resembling that of a sick zebra. The fabric was slightly larger and much more rounded, although the brown and bluish stripes didn't look like anything special.

Despite all the time he had spent in the maze, he had not found any sign of a dismembered body part, and he was beginning to wonder if Dr. Z had just made that story up in order to mess with his head.

The floor before him was looking much brighter now, which gave him the idea that perhaps he was finally getting close to end of this maze. Even with the Chicken Man out of commission, he could still hear the chainsaw's cries echoing down the halls for some reason. Silently, he pressed on to the last leg of the maze, eventually coming across another dead end and yet another lost piece of fabric.

He saw the cloth on the floor, thinking that he had seen it from somewhere before. There were thoughts sure, but anything that related this cloth to what he thought it was must have been a stretch. Dr. Z would never resort to this would he?

" _Oh gods…_ "

Robin held the fabric in his hands, feeling the cold and damp material with his fingertips. He noticed the stiches on the face, the red cloth that had been sewn to the top to make it look like a baseball cap. He saw the small button eyes staring him back in the face.

He quickly took out the other pieces of fabric, holding them up in his hand, his temples now starting to throb with the chainsaw's echo. His heart sank, knees feeling like they were made of jelly, hands shaking to the point where he nearly dropped everything on the ground.

This wasn't a game anymore.

A meaty hand grabbed him by the back of the head, but still he kept a fist clenched on the fabric. He kicked and cried, his feet no longer on the ground but now dangling in the air. The animalistic laughter of the Chicken Man pierced his eardrums, followed by a rusty chain that was practically touching his clothes.

"No!" Robin flung his legs back, shoving his executioner away and landing on all fours. He then booked it to the maze's exit, the stampeding beast in hot pursuit. Apparently the monster had survived the guillotines, and had Robin looked back, he would have noticed the creature missing a few facial features. His legs were crumbling, his mind screaming at his body to move, move, move, yet somehow he could barely keep up. The lights twisted, the sounds distorted, the bright green exit sign melting like microwaved chocolate. With all his might, Robin tumbled through the doorway, the mechanisms of the funhouse sealing the exit shut with a steel barrier.

The screaming had ceased.

He opened his eyes with a jitter, realizing that he was lying on the ground, his cheek simmered by an icy surface. Slowly, he pulled himself up to a sitting position, his eyes spinning so fast he could hardly tell if the last thirty seconds were a dream or reality.

He was sitting in a dark room.

The floor was blank. The walls were blank. The ceiling all reflected this blank metallic stare, like a cell in an insane asylum that wasn't ready for occupants yet.

By the gods he was alive, and if he ever doubted that for a second, Dr. Z's voice of the intercom was there to reassure him.

"Congratulations!" he said. "You made it out of the maze! Now that wasn't so hard, was—"

He cut himself off, noticing that Robin was still on the ground.

He was crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said. "Please." He got up, shouting so loud his voice practically shook the entire room. "Please give me another chance!"

He made a mistake. Although he did complete the primary objective of escaping the maze, he didn't have enough time to fill the other requirement.

The requirement that ensured his friend's safety.

"Let me try again!" cried Robin frantically. "I had no choice but to escape! That creature left me no choice!"

He fell to his knees, hammering the ground with his fist so hard that he nearly broke a bone. He continued to cry, for he knew that as much as he pleaded, he wasn't going to get another chance.

"Please…."

"I'm sorry Robin, but that's the aim of the game," replied Dr. Z seriously. "You played, you won." He paused. "You just didn't get the prize you wanted." A light from the ceiling immediately flicked on, revealing a pedestal with a square glass container atop it. "Return the body parts please."

Robin seemed to shiver at those words, hesitating as he pushed himself to his feet. Nervously, he shuffled over to the pedestal, gazing at the glass container's emptiness. Producing the pieces of fabric he found in the maze, he held them out in front of him.

"No…" he quivered. "I can't…"

"The game is over. It's time for the next trial."

Robin felt the materials fall from his hands, landing softly in the glass box. During his time in the maze, he had managed to collect four items: A head, a torso, and two legs. He didn't have enough time to get Ness' arms.

He gasped, the glass box sealing itself and sinking into the pedestal. Another bright light was then turned on, this one over a steel door on the other side of the room. All of this following a blood-curdling scream.

Robin didn't have to think twice; he sprinted and grabbed the handle. He couldn't get the agonizing screams out of his head, but he would have preferred it if not for the sound of tearing flesh, cracking bones, and spongy popping that no man should ever have the displeasure of hearing. It was like someone was ripping his limbs from their sockets. Like a person being put through a meat grinder, their organs and tissues mangled together in a heap of raw flesh.

Like a boy being dismembered by the village monster.

Robin yanked the door open before collapsing to the ground in defeat, scrambling to the boy's side. He cried and pleaded for Ness to hang on, that he was going to call an ambulance, that there was going to be some way for him to reattach the arms that had been so forcefully removed from his shoulders.

Sadly, it was too late. He was long gone.


	4. A Test of Wit

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** I realize that this story is long overdue for an update, and for that I am sorry. My goal was the get this story completed before Halloween, but would you look at that, Christmas is almost here! Perhaps I didn't give myself enough time to finish this, but nevertheless the show must go on. A special thanks to bladewielder, Paradigm of Writing, SolarEnergy, SoaringHawk, MahNati, snow x fairy, pokemonrhoades, ihateslash, and Flowslikepixelz for leaving reviews. If you like this story then don't be afraid to follow, favorite, or review. Knowing that people still want to find out how this story ends is what keeps me coming back to it.

On a semi-related note, I encourage readers this chapter to try and solve the puzzle that Robin is presented with. It took me a few days to figure it out, and it's actually kind of interesting to think about! So if you have an understanding of the problem that needs to be solved, try it for yourself before finishing the chapter!

As always, enjoy, and I'll catch you in the next update.

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Chapter 4: A Test of Wit

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It was cold and quiet when Robin finally emerged from the exit of the funhouse, but that didn't stop him from treading into the dark. With no hints of the Chicken Man in pursuit, Robin took his time navigating through the mist, an icy shiver creeping up his spine like a slithering snake. Memories of the maze haunted his every movement, a grim reminder that he couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

" _Ness…_ "

Robin's hands were stained with blood, sticking to him like rusting tar. He had no idea that a crucial misinterpretation of the rules could result in a loss such as this. All this time he thought Dr. Z was toying with him, creating an illusion just to get him to move from point A to point B. It turned out however, that this whole game was indeed one giant nightmare, and Robin was stranded in the middle of it. He could only wonder what on earth became of Lucina and Pit, but just thinking about it made his stomach hurt. To see his beloved comrades torn to shreds was just dreadful to imagine, and his throat still burned from when he threw up a few yards back.

He had been shouting at the game master, crying, pleading, and demanding that these twisted games be put to a stop so that he may return to the world above. It was no use however, since Dr. Z refused to go back on the agreement they had. If Robin wanted to go home, he had to complete the remaining trials from beginning to end, and hopefully save his friends in the process. If he wasn't able to accomplish that, then his soul was doomed to an eternity of torture here in the hellish realm of Horrorland.

Reasoning with the man was out of the question. His only choice at this point was to keep fighting, but with a game like this, he might as well be a rat in a maze.

The area was still concealed in fog, the ground was still made of faces, and the faint sound of moaning seemed to echo on forever. Horrorland was as welcoming as ever, but Robin's plan to escape remained the same. He just wasn't quite sure where to go now since everywhere he looked all he saw was mist.

"Time runs short. Better get a move on, Robin. Better get a move on!"

It was the voice of that deranged man again, but Robin persisted onwards. He made his way back to the square where the game booths were, continuing forward until he wandered off the main pathway. On this side of Horrorland, the area was mostly covered by trees and other types of foliage, although here all he could see were metallic spikes that shot up dozens of feet into the sky. Park guests were welcome down these paths too, where they could see various shows, as well as participate in other ghostly attractions like the Spooky Hammer Slam, and the Bumper Boogies. It was here where Robin and Lucina had watched the Freaky Freak Show, although now the stage was completely barren with nothing left behind but a few broken spotlights that had fallen overhead.

He was reminded yet again of the ghastly Chicken Man and that bloody chainsaw.

"If you keep heading west, you'll find the next game in a small isolated building," came Dr. Z's voice from a nearby speaker. "It's a little off the beaten path, so tread carefully!"

Robin didn't say anything, but he was starting to lose count of how many times he wanted to strangle that man with his own two hands. As depressed as he was about his grievous mistake, he knew very well that now wasn't the time to sulk. After all, a true tactician never lets his emotions get the best of him, even in the midst of battle when fellow soldiers are falling left and right. Out here, he was by himself, and his only hope of survival was completing the games and saving his remaining friends.

" _Rest in peace, Ness._ " He took a deep breath. " _You will be avenged._ "

Eventually, Robin made it to the building that Dr. Z was telling him about, and it wasn't nearly as flashy as the last one. On the outside, it looked like a small wooden dome with various turnstiles lined up outside of it. Above the double doors hung a sign that read "Horrorland Reading Room," while just on the outside stood another sign that went over the details and other safety regulations of the place.

"I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Welcome to Horrorland Reading Room!" said Dr. Z's voice all of a sudden. "The number one spot for all your horror reading wants and needs! Take a rest from your daily thrill-seeking adventures with a relaxing reimagining of Edgar Allen Poe's _Tell Tale Heart_ , or a brisk journey through the desolate world of Stephen King's _The Stand_. Whatever horrifying tale you're thirsting for, our storytellers at Horrorland are guaranteed to send more than a few chills down your spine…"

A book closed, and the double doors began to open before Robin.

"The next trial begins here then," he said, gazing into the never ending darkness of the building. He dreaded to think which of his two remaining friends' lives would be on the line this time.

"It's inside," replied Dr. Z, "but I won't explain the rules until you go in first. Go in first!"

Oh how he loathed that man, but now wasn't the time for that. With no revving chainsaw at his back, Robin saw this as an opportunity to complete the next challenge with a level head, hopefully without any more distractions. Steadily, he made his way through the darkness, and he frankly wasn't surprised when the doors behind him shut completely, cutting him off from any access to the outside.

He stood there silently in the dark, listening for any sounds that could hint as to what else was in the room with him. The chamber was warm, the air was stale, and it didn't seem like there was any form of ventilation anywhere.

"Are you afraid?" It was Dr. Z again, although his voice seemed to echo in the chamber now.

"Of you I'm not," replied Robin calmly. "A man who hides behind a microphone is no more a soldier who dies without his boots on."

The insane man laughs.

"Hey! I like that! I'm gonna write that one down!" The insult flew right over his head, but that was honestly the least of Robin's worries. Dr. Z cleared his throat. "Now, before we begin, I suppose it's only polite to turn the lights on."

As he said those words, the whole room became illuminated from the bulbs on the ceiling, revealing a control panel on the nearby wall, along with a metal door attached to a series of mechanisms. Robin noticed a set of three levers on the control panel, each of them with wires running up to the ceiling that appeared to go into the next room. He made his way across the metal grating on the ground, approaching the panel cautiously.

" _This is about to get more interesting…_ " he thought, examining the controls before him. He noticed that each lever had with it a small emblem engraved beneath them, representing the natural elements of fire, electricity, and darkness respectively.

"I'll give you a moment to get comfortable before we move on to the next part of the story," said Dr. Z excitedly. He was referring to the story that he left off with about the boy who got eaten by a monstrous chicken. Apparently, there was a second part that went along with the next trial.

Robin moved over to the metal door, examining its exterior curiously. There was a panel just to its right that contained a large button, which more than likely opened the door upon being pressed. Other than that, this room had nothing else of interest, besides the rusted walls and dangling chains. From the looks of it, Robin could barely tell he was still standing in a dome-shaped building.

"You'll be happy to hear that the next part of the story isn't that long," came the voice of Dr. Z. "But it's my favorite!" He cleared his throat (not that it made much of a difference) and flipped through a page. "After the townspeople heard about the terrible killing of the boy who cried chicken, they were furious! They banded together, took up arms, and chased that monstrosity out of their village. They followed the creature all the way to the woods, discovering a small cabin that was presumably the chicken's home. Once inside the cabin, the townspeople found an old man who claimed to be the caretaker of the chicken, and so the villagers blamed the man for the death of the boy and the killing of their livestock. Infused with rage, the townsfolk dragged the man out of his home, bringing him all the way back to the village where he was put on trial, only to eventually be executed at the hands of the vengeful people." He gave a dramatic pause for effect. "He was put to death in the electric chair, and then the next day, his body was cremated."

Robin heard a book close, followed by another pause as if Dr. Z was expecting him to say something.

"Well, you can't say he didn't get what he deserved," said Dr. Z. "Maybe that'll teach him next time take better care of his chicken."

"So they killed him," replied Robin. "An eye for an eye, to make up for what happened before."

"A little cruel and unusual if you ask me." The insane man snickered.

"This story isn't a fairy-tale like the last one though." Robin was just thinking out loud at this point, and honestly he was more concerned with how Pit or Lucina fit into this equation. If the boy in the last story supposedly had a tie to Ness, then which character here did his other friends represent?

"The man in the electric chair is waiting for you," said Dr. Z mysteriously. "He's just beyond that door."

Robin glanced at the metallic door again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, although he had to wonder what Dr. Z specifically meant by that last statement.

"In this trial, Robin, your job will be to make it through that door into the next room, and then to the room beyond that. You may use the button here any time you like to open this door, but be warned that once you enter the next room, you cannot come back to this one. Do you understand?"

"Just tell me what I have to do," replied Robin seriously.

"Well _someone's_ certainly feeling eager," the madman laughs. "Alright then! In order to advance to the third room, you must complete the puzzle involving rooms one and two. You like a good puzzle, don't you? Anyways, notice the three switches near the door. Each of these switches corresponds to their own lightbulbs that you will find in the next room. Your job is to figure out which lightbulb goes to which switch. Once you have the answer, you may move past the next room to the final room where you will reach the exit. Making sense so far?"

" _Kind of_."

From the sound of things, it seemed as though Dr. Z was presenting him with a logic puzzle this time around. In a room with now windows or vents, Robin's task was to determine from this side which lever was wired to which bulb in the next room. The problem was, he had no way of seeing what the other room looked like until he opened the door, which wouldn't be a problem if going through the door didn't trap him in the next room permanently.

"If you are unable to solve the puzzle," said Dr. Z, "the room will fill with poisonous gas and your soul belongs to Horrorland forever."

"No pressure," muttered Robin calmly. He had to admit he was a little nervous, but there was no point in letting the deranged doctor know that. He put a hand to his head and began to recap on the instructions. "So let me get this straight. I have to match each switch to its bulb located in the next room, but I'm only allowed to enter that room once?"

"You got it, bucko," said Dr. Z. "Like I said, once you open that door, there's no coming back this way, so make sure you think long and hard about your decision before going through." He snickered again. "After all, I don't want to have to come down there and scoop your body up after you suffocate."

How could this be possible then? Without being able to look into the other room, Robin could flip a switch, go and verify it, and then be trapped with no way of determining the source of the other two lights.

This was going to be tougher than he thought.

"What of the emblems then?" he asked. He was referring to the elemental insignias beneath each of the three switches. If he had to guess, he could say that each switch had something to do with one of his Tomes.

"Remember the story," explained the doctor, "and it should all make sense. You can use those emblems as a way to verify that I'm not trying to pull a fast one on you, like having one switch trigger two lightbulbs. Each of those levers has a one to one path to a corresponding light bulb, so all you have to do is figure out which switch goes where. Sound easy enough?"

It sounded easy sure, but Robin knew that he was going to have to do a little more thinking to get to the bottom of this mystery. With no way to backtrack into this room, he was going to have to figure out a way to know the location of all three light sources in one clean go.

And what was that talk about the man in the electric chair waiting for him in the next room? Surely there wasn't someone else in this building with him…

"How much time do I have?" asked Robin.

"Oh, I'm not giving you a time limit," replied Dr. Z. "I can't say the same about Mr. Chicken though. I think he got lost somewhere in the park, so it might be in your best interest to take advantage of this down time while things are quiet. I'll be waiting for you on the other side. On the other side!"

With that, the microphone was hung up, and Robin was met with the sound of dripping water and rumbling machinery from somewhere underground. It seemed as though the trial had already begun, and he was thankful to know that this trial was going to be less stressful on his legs.

Now, it was time to put his brain to the test.

He approached the control panel, eyeing each of the levers carefully, although he did not put his hand upon any of them. Instead, he tried to concentrate, running through each possible scenario in his head to ensure that he wasn't missing any of the pieces.

" _Each switch only has one bulb corresponding to it_ ," he said to himself. " _Flipping one switch will turn on one light in the next room, but going through the door will still leave me with two unknown bulbs. Likewise, flipping two switches now will tell me which bulb in the next room I didn't turn on, but I'm still left with two burning lightbulbs_."

He flipped the switch on his right, the one with the dark cloudy image beneath it. He flicked it off again almost immediately, leaving him back at square one.

" _If there were only two switches, I'd be able to figure out which was which simply by turning one of them on… But with three, I have no choice but to turn on one and leave two off, or vice versa. Either way, I'm still left with two bulbs in the same state, which tells me nothing about them._ "

The problem was pretty heavy, even for a tactician as talented as Robin. He was no stranger to problem solving, but the issue presented here didn't seem to have any kind of logical solution. In the old times of war, he would be in charge of prepping his soldiers, organizing them based on their skills and choosing warriors who countered the enemy frontline. For example, if the opposing army had a large amount of dragon riders, Robin was wise enough to put his best archers on the field, since their arrows were a natural counter to the dragons' wings. In those scenarios, he knew every piece of the equation, and the problems were simply resolved based on educational guesses.

Here in this chamber however, half of the equation was missing. Robin couldn't see into the next room without entering it first, and even at that point he had no way of coming back out since the door automatically locked.

He had to find another approach. Instead of tackling each switch one by one, he thought he could employ one of Dr. Z's techniques and simply flick on switches at random. But of course, the order of the switches was irrelevant, since he still had no way of knowing what was on the other side of the door. He then tried using the emblems, turning on the fire switch and the electric switch at the same time, and then turning off one to turn on the darkness switch. It seemed that no matter what he tried however, he just kept ending up with the same result, driving him to the point where he couldn't even look at the control panel anymore.

" _I don't get it_ ," he thought. " _How is this even possible? The switches all do the same thing in each case, and the door prevents me from verifying the source of any of them! This has to be a trick..."_

Could it be? Could Dr. Z have broken the rules, presenting Robin with a problem that was utterly impossible to solve only to watch him squirm in defeat? Could he have just sent him on a wild goose chase with that funhouse, getting his hopes up only to mercilessly crush them before Robin's very eyes?

" _No. I can't accept that._ "

He had to try again, especially with Pit and Lucina's lives at stake. He already lost one friend, and he couldn't live with the thought that getting out of here could be certain death for either of them. Somehow, someway, he had to complete the puzzle, and there's no way in hell he could ever call himself a tactician again if it meant throwing in the towel now.

Robin turned around, ready to analyze the control panel yet again. Perhaps there was another detail about the switches he was missing? All these thoughts and more ran through his head as his eyes fell on the switch in the middle, which he realized he had left on the whole time since he started pondering. The other two switches, the darkness and the fire, were turned off.

"… _That's it._ "

A heavy slam on the building's entrance nearly made him jump out of his skin. He soon heard that bloody chainsaw starting up again, followed by more screeching and howling from an old acquaintance that he wished would just shut up and die already.

The Chicken Man was back.

"Not now!" cried Robin, darting back to the large doors and holding them up with his body. With nothing else in the room, he had nothing barricade the entrance with, and so he had no choice but to wait. He had solved the puzzle of the Horrorland Reading Room, but he still needed a few minutes for the plan to work.

The doors were met with another slam, sending so much force through Robin's body that he practically flew off his feet. He tried to ignore the laughs, the cries, the bloodcurdling shrieks coming from outside, but the static in the atmosphere was beginning to return again just as it had done in the funhouse. He soon found himself covering his ears from all the noise, but he dared not pull away from the door for fear that one wrong move would mean his head on the chopping block.

The teeth of the chainsaw were on the door at this point, and although Robin didn't think it was possible, he saw the blade coming through just above his head. He ducked, sparks flying everywhere, but he didn't hesitate to duck and roll away from the entrance. The doors immediately flew open, revealing a rampaging madman with a flailing blade stained with blood.

Robin pushed himself forward, hitting the darkness lever before slamming his fist on the button to the next room. The door quickly raised up, allowing him passage for a split second. The Chicken Man nearly had him in his grasp before the door came back down almost as quickly as it opened. Robin felt a clammy hand grab the back of his head, but he found himself falling to the ground, the door chopping the Chicken Man's arm off in the process. Robin didn't hear the monster's howl of pain as he scrambled to get as far away from the door as possible. He gasped for breath, a cold sweat running over his body as he collapsed to the floor.

The severed arm of the Chicken Man oozed a small pool of blood.

Robin quickly pulled himself to his feet, scanning his surroundings for anything that went against his perceived solution. As he had hoped, the room was nearly an exact replica of the previous one, and each of the three lightbulbs could be seen beside the next door on the far wall. Other than that, the room was completely empty. The lights didn't even have any of the elemental emblems beneath them.

A small smirk crept onto Robin's face as he noticed that two of the lightbulbs were on, just as he predicted. The bulb on the right, which was off, obviously went to the switch that he didn't flick in the previous room, which was the fire elemental. Now all that was left was determining which of the two glowing bulbs went to the electric and darkness switches.

It was time to check his hypothesis.

Robin walked up to the bulb in the middle, placing a hand just over it. His skin made no contact with the glass, but he felt a faint tingle of heat against his palm, which actually felt quite nice given the circumstances. Finally, he put his other hand over the remaining glowing bulb, noticing that it was not nearly as hot as its neighbour.

That was it.

"The bulb on the left goes to the darkness switch," he announced out loud. "The bulb on the right goes to the fire switch. And the bulb in the middle… goes to the lightning switch."

The door to his right immediately opened, revealing the final room to him. In his mind, he was ecstatic, having solved a riddle that he could have sworn was nearly impossible at a first glance. It seemed however, that all he had to do was think outside of the box. By turning one switch on long before turning on another one, Robin determined that the switch that was on the longest would emanate the most heat, thus the one that was only turned on for a few seconds would still be cold. And with the third switch remaining off the whole time, distinguishing each of the three bulbs apart from each other was as easy as hovering a hand over them.

With the second trial now complete, Robin was officially one step closer to locating his missing friends, although unfortunately the celebration was short-lived. For when Robin opened the final door, he could only hear a series of sparks and buzzes coming from the next room, which was when he noticed that the bulb that he had left on had a wire going from it all the way into the next room through the wall.

And just as he feared, the switch that matched that bulb was the one with the lightning emblem.

When Robin dashed into the next room, he was met with the sight of the man in the electric chair just as Dr. Z had foretold, but shockingly the man was no stranger. Pit was sizzling with smoke, electrical sparks dancing off of his arms and his brown hair, while his wings were burnt to a near crisp. The scent of charred flesh was an assault on Robin's nostrils, but that didn't stop him from grabbing the wire and yanking it out of the chair it belonged to. He collapsed to the floor in disbelief that he could be played for a fool twice in a row.

He had failed his friends yet again.


	5. A Test of Love

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** A big thanks goes out to my reviewers, including Paradigm of Writing, potatoman098, cgstrykerz, Light My Crazy Diamond, SolarEnergy07, flowslikepixels, Wotahbotak3k, snowxfairy, and bladewielder05. I'm glad this story is still keeping people on edge despite my slow updates. It's unfortunate that Skyworld's charismatic angel had to die in the previous chapter, but I'm fairly certain that most of you saw that coming. I can also predict that most of you will know who will be making her grand return in this chapter, but as for whether or not she lives, well… I suppose you'll have to keep reading to find out…

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Chapter 5: A Test of Love

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On the cold, murky streets of Horrorland, time seemed to slow. In the darkness, a lone man in a tactician's robe shuffled down the path, his feet dragging behind like a member of the undead. At this point, Robin was one step closer to escaping this prison of madness, but had fallen two steps back at the sudden loss of another companion.

" _How did I not foresee that?_ " the voice in his head whispered. " _The story, the emblems, it was all there in black and white. If only I had looked hard enough…_ "

On the night of October 31st, there were two trials that Robin had completed. The first one tried to test his abilities to adapt under a highly stressful situation. The second focused on testing his mind, attempting to crumble it under a ludicrous amount of pressure. In both scenarios, Robin had overlooked a fatal point that had been made out since the beginning, and that was that his friends were all here with him. Only, unlike him, they were pawns. Like the pieces on a chessboard, Ness and Pit were expendable troops. And losing such valuable pieces was a mistake that poisoned Robin to the core. Even on the Ylissean battlefield, Robin had never lost a fellow soldier to the hardships of war. Now the war was in a foreign land, a land where monsters roam free, and the dead moan for peace.

He shuddered.

" _I'm sorry Pit…_ " Tears fell from his eyes. " _I'm so sorry…_ "

He was trembling, much like he had done when he found Ness' mutilated body. As the only member of the Super Smash Bros. who could put a stop to these nightmares, Robin felt solely responsible for the deaths of his friends. To see them executed in the most horrifying ways made him sick to his stomach. He could still remember them laughing and joking after winning prizes at that corny dart-throwing game.

"Not the outcome you were hoping for I take it?"

Robin got a grip of himself as the voice of Dr. Z came from overhead. The tears evaporated; the rage from before once again began to boil within him.

"I'll kill you," said Robin through gritted teeth. "I'll make you pay for what you did to them!"

Dr. Z cackled, but Robin still had no idea where the madman was perched.

"Me?" replied Dr. Z, and honestly he sounded kind of offended. "I didn't do _anything_ to them! You're the one who let them die! You could have flipped any of the other switches in that building, but no, you had to pick the one with the lightning emblem. You should have paid more attention to the story!"

"Don't you get it?" Robin stared into the mist. "This isn't a game. It never was. There are people here who are dead. _My friends_ are dead." He nearly bit his lip on accident. "You cannot toy with people's lives like it's a sport!"

"It _is_ a sport though." Although he could not see him, Robin could tell that the man was grinning beneath his mask. "Year after year Horrorland harvests the souls of the brave and the foolish. Why not make it a little more interesting? Why not make a game out of it? Watching you humans squirm as you try to reason with the game master is more entertainment than anything this world has ever offered to me!" He suddenly began imitating voices of previous Horrorland guests. "Why are your games so hard? Why do you keep killing people? Wah, wah, wah, you guys do so much whining it's infuriating!"

"We are people. We have a right to live, and as such we should have a choice at when and how we want to die."

"Well here's a newsflash for you, bud. People don't get to choose. There are thousands of people who go out of this life every day. It could be murder or suicide, heck it could even be a heart attack! It's irrelevant. Some people were just destined to die before others, and so if they happen to be strolling through the park when I decide to show up, then that's their problem. After all, Horrorland doesn't run on smoke and coal."

This conversation was really starting to make Robin angry, and it wasn't just in the way Dr. Z spoke. He couldn't accept that he and his friends just so happened to be unfortunate souls who ended up walking down the wrong alleyway in a crowded city. They weren't animals, and the certainly weren't pawns on a chessboard. As a player in the game, Robin had every right to question the rules, even if some of those rules were specifically made to go against him.

"You will not have me," said Robin sternly. "Neither will you have any of my friends. Mark my words, by the time I'm done with this, Horrorland will be nothing but a scary story that parents tell children before bed."

"Ha! That's a good one!" Dr. Z laughed yet again. "I hate to burst your bubble, but two of your friends are already mine. You saw for yourself that they're dead. D-E-A-D, dead! Of course, you're still in the game, Robin, and funny enough, you still have one friend left! Now let me see, who is… Oh yes, Lucina! And might I add that this friend is one that you especially have great feelings for."

Robin clenched his fists upon hearing her name come out of his mouth. If there was one person who he absolutely had to save no matter the cost, it was Lucina.

"Don't you dare touch her," he snarled.

"Too late for that I'm afraid," chuckled Dr. Z. "She's already been chosen as the last victim for the night. But you already saw that coming didn't you? Anyway, let's quit the chit-chat and keep this train a-rolling shall we? The spectators have been dying to find out what your third and final trial is."

There were moans rising from the ground as Robin was reminded of the faceless souls that he walked upon. Following this, the streetlights began to turn on, marking a path through the fog where apparently the third trial was located.

"Tread carefully and keep your head up," said Dr. Z. "You'll be happy to hear that the final trial does not take place inside a building. No-siree! You'll be somewhere out here in the open, although don't think that will make things any easier for you. Better get a move on before you-know-who decides to show his ugly mug again. At least you managed to cut off one of his arms…"

Dr. Z rambled on about the state of the Chicken Man, but by this time Robin was already following the lights through the crimson mist. He was also moving at a pretty fast pace, partly because of the Chicken Man potentially lying in wait, and partly because he wanted to reach Lucina. If this trial was going to be anything like the previous ones, chances are Lucina was going to be waiting for him at the end of it in one way or another.

"…So I suppose now would be a good time to continue with the final part of our story," said Dr. Z's mechanical voice. Robin dreaded the thought of hearing more about the deranged fairy-tale, but at the same time, this story was likely going to play a key part in rescuing Lucina. "Don't worry; it's not very long. After the execution of the man in the woods, the townspeople were still upset that the monstrous chicken was still roaming around the town. In a valiant effort, they chased the monster down, wounding it to the point where it could no longer run away. Some of their best huntsmen were put to the task of tying the chicken's legs together, as well as its wings so that it could no longer escape. Finally, they put a noose around its feathery neck before dropping the monster off of a building. The evil creature was hanged from a post in the middle of town for all the world to see, a grim reminder that evil deeds breed evil resolution." A brief moment of silence. "And they lived happily ever after."

The sound of a book closing could be heard in the fog, but Robin continued to press onwards. He wasn't sure what to make of the story, but he had a pretty good idea of how Lucina was going to be involved in it.

"So? Any thoughts?" asked Dr. Z.

"None that I'd want to share with you," replied Robin seriously. "Take me to the third trial."

If any of his fellow Smashers could see him now, all of them would be equally scared. Dr. Z may have pushed him a little too far to the point where he just didn't have any more patience. All he knew was that completing the trial was his ticket out of here, and saving Lucina was his top priority.

"Getting mouthy are we?" said Dr. Z. "Fine then, if that's how you want to play it! Keep following the lights and you'll find the third trial. Keep following the lights! And don't be surprised if I end up killing Lucina before you get a chance to see her."

Robin immediately picked up the pace, dashing through the dark as he silently prayed that she was still alive. He passed by numerous attractions, most of which were broken down or spider-infested like the Horror Bounce House or Creepy Coffin Castle. They reminded him of the rides he and Lucina had checked out before this hellish world showed its true face. The memories were bittersweet however, since even then Robin wasn't a big fan of this place. And if he didn't like it back then, he sure as hell despised it now.

"Just a few more yards…Brace yourself!"

Robin wasn't sure what to expect, but he could see a small clearing up ahead. He broke out of the fog in to a square that was surrounded by various booths, most of which were used for public concession such as drink stands, food joints, and vending machines. Of course, most of these booths were unusable as well, but Robin thought he recognized some of the flashy rundown signs before.

Of course, this place was the exact same location where he and Lucina had watched the freak show from earlier in the evening. There on the other side of the square was the stage, the very same stage where they had witnessed the Chicken Man perform screeches and leaps, as well as those janitors clean up afterwards. The whole area was now pretty depressing due to the zero attendance, but the stage itself seemed to light up as he approached it. Robin almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw who was on the stage. He figured it would be Lucina if anything, and he did get just that, only not exactly what he had hoped.

Lucina was standing on the stage, upon a platform with a noose around her neck. Her hands and feet were both tied together. It was like something out of a deranged horror play, like how in the olden days people would hang pirates or witches from the gallows if they were captured. From her ocean blue hair to her Ylissean armor, this was Lucina without a doubt.

And she was alive.

"Robin!" she called out, but she flinched upon moving her neck. The rope around her was strung tight, so much so that she was barely standing flatfooted on the platform. One wrong move and she would end up strangling herself, and it was no surprise to Robin when he noticed that she was standing on a trapdoor that undoubtedly gave away upon being activated.

"Lucina!" he replied, running up to the stage. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm just happy to see you."

She tried to smile for him, and she kind of did. It put a smile on his own face seeing her okay, or at least not in any major pain. It looked as though he had arrived just in time.

That is, until he heard another voice.

"Don't listen to her Robin! It's a trap!"

Did his ears deceive him? For a moment, he thought he heard Lucina's voice, only coming from a completely different direction than directly in front of him. Robin quickly looked over at the left side of the stage, and he nearly lost his mind upon seeing the impossible before him.

Lucina was over there in the exact same setup at the first Lucina. She had a noose around her neck, her limbs tied by restraints, and her ankles just above the ground so not to strangle herself. Robin did a double-take from the first Lucina to the other one, and the more he looked, the more he began to back away, confused and bewildered by the twisted series of events.

"What's going on here?" he said. He rubbed his eyes numerous times, thinking that this was just a trick of the light, or perhaps his own mind, but every time he opened them he kept seeing two Lucinas. They stood on the stage, one on the left and one on the right, both giving him the same worried look. Or, one looked more worried, while the other one seemed to be more distraught. In either case, these were both characteristics Lucina was known for, which only made Robin's head spin even more. "Lucina? Are you?..."

"It's me," replied the Lucina on the left. "Don't be fooled by this witch. I don't know who she is, but she certainly is not who you think she is."

"She's lying," said the Lucina on the right. "Robin, you know it's me. You have to get me out of these restraints!"

Robin backed up, and backed up, and backed up some more. Actually, he fell flat on his butt, however his question remained unanswered. There couldn't be two Lucinas. There just couldn't!

"Puzzled?" came the irritating voice of Dr. Z. "I figured I'd save the best challenge for last, as it's the one I've been dying to see the outcome of as well!" His voice boomed over the park in a fit of laughter. "Behold the third trial! A test that has the simplest of rules, but the most difficult of solutions! A test that will determine just how close you are to your dear friends."

Like a phantom, a murky shadow swept over the stage, forming a masked man in a robe between the two Lucinas, with metallic thin hands that grasped two levers on either side of him. It was Dr. Z in the flesh!

"Who doesn't like a good hanging, eh?" he laughed. "Especially when it's a double-hanging. It's a race to see who can draw those last few moments of breath while they're still alive!"

"Explain yourself!" shouted Robin. "What did you do to Lucina?"

"Lucina?" replied the disturbed man. "Why, I didn't do anything to her! She's right here actually." He gestured to the Lucina on his right. "Although, she's also right here." He pointed to the one on his left. "Uh oh! I'm seeing double! But which Lucina is the real Lucina?"

The Lucinas glared at each other from across the stage, both of them being pretty convincing candidates from Robin's point of view.

"It's a trick," said the girl on the left. "I'm Lucina!"

"I am Lucina, daughter of Chrom, and descendent of the Hero-King Marth," said the other one. "There can only be one of me!"

"Now now, ladies," interjected Dr. Z, "let's not do anything feisty here. After all, one wrong step out of line and I'll pull these levers, sending you on a one-hundred-and-twenty-second ride of agonizing suffocation!"

The two Lucinas held their tongues.

"Now then, let's get onto the rules," said Dr. Z. "As I said before, the rules are quite simple. All you have to do, Robin, is ask these two lovely ladies each a question. You can ask one question to one Lucina, and that Lucina will give you an answer. After that, you may decide which of these Lucina's you'd like to keep. The one that you choose gets to go home with you, and the one that you leave inevitably falls to her death. You're free to grab a bag of popcorn and watch the show of course!"

Robin narrowed his eyes at the deranged man, and now he understood what he meant by having simple rules and a complicated solution. All he had to do was ask a question, or two questions specifically, to the Lucinas up on the stage. In doing so, supposedly he could figure out which Lucina was the real one and which one was the fake. The only difference between this test and the previous tests is that he doesn't have to do anything outlandish like outrun a psychotic chainsaw-wielding madman.

"That's all?" asked Robin. "It can't be that simple."

"It is," replied Dr. Z. "Really this test is kind of a freebie. You can very well choose to not ask any questions at all and just walk out of here. The trial will be considered completed, but I'll be forced to pull the plug on both of these girls. Since you were already going on and on about me killing people unnecessarily, I take it that you probably wouldn't want that."

"You're right; I don't." Robin approached the stage yet again, the closest he had ever been to the psychopathic man ever since this whole nightmare began. "I do have a problem with people bending the rules though."

"I won't pull a fast one on you. I haven't done that all night actually despite what you may think. You've just been having an unlucky day."

"So it seems." Robin glanced up, his eyes switching between both of the victims on the stage. "Very well. I accept the challenge. I just need a moment to think."

"Don't take too long," snickered Dr. Z. "I'd hate to keep the fans waiting."

The trial had begun as the sound of a clock tower chimed three times in the distance. Robin wasn't sure if he really did have a time limit or not, but if this test was anything like the other ones, he was on Mr. Chicken's time. And with no sound of cawing or buzzing nearby, it looked as though he could relax, at least for a little while.

The Lucinas watched Robin turn around and head to the middle of the square as he began to ponder for some questions. With their fate already decided, attempting to persuade him was out of the question, not to mention the fact that Dr. Z literally had his bony fingers wrapped around the triggers to their doom. For now, all they could do was stand and wait for Robin to finish thinking, but coming up with a question was not nearly as easy as it sounds.

" _Think, think_." Robin put a hand to his head, looking around at the various uninteresting stands. " _What is something that only Lucina would know?_ "

Ideally, his plan was to come up with two questions that Lucina and only Lucina knew the answer to. Surely the Lucina who was false would not be able to come up with a sufficient answer. Thus, his strategy depended on only asking personal questions. What is her favorite food? What is her mother's maiden name? How heavy is her Falchion? Even still, Robin didn't know the answer to some of the questions he was coming up with, thus he had to think of something that both he and Lucina knew together, but starting there was making him draw nothing but blanks.

" _I could ask about her favorite animal_ ," he thought. " _Dogs? Or is it dragons? No, she wouldn't like dragons. Cats maybe?_ "

Grasping at straws was pointless. He needed something that he could confirm as truth without any doubt in his mind. Their time together in Ylisse, their training sessions during the tournament, there were plenty of scenarios under those settings that fit the bill. He could ask her to name ten characters in the Super Smash Bros. roster. Surely only a full-fledged member of Super Smash Bros. would be able to answer that?

He turned around, glancing at Dr. Z, who stared back at him with that bird-like mask. He remained frozen like a statue, but he still had a firm grip around the death levers.

" _I can't ask about our friends_ ," thought Robin, turning back to face the other direction. " _Dr. Z knows so much about us, yet I still don't know his true identity. I also don't know how he knew my name, not to mention the others. He probably planted a few thoughts in the false Lucina's head in order to create a near-perfect replica_." He looked up. " _If that's the case, then I can't afford to ask any questions related to Smash_."

He soon found himself pacing around the square, remembering moments that only he and Lucina had shared together. These were memories that absolutely no one but themselves knew about, which made them all the more essential in completing this trial.

" _I could ask about what I got her for her birthday last year. She only wears the necklace on special occasions so I doubt anyone else would know about it_." His eyes fell to the ground, staring past the sea of faces beneath him. " _There's also our other friends_ …" His thoughts cycled through the various members of Chrom's Shepherds, from Frederick, to Sumia, to even that dolt Henry. And then there was Tharja, Nowi, and for a moment his mind briefly skimmed over the Fell Dragon, Grima.

Nothing. He had nothing.

"Earth to Robin!" cooed Dr. Z. "You gonna sit there and twiddle your thumbs all day or are you gonna say something?"

"I need more time," replied Robin, but his back remained facing the stage.

"Fine. I'll give you five more minutes and that's it! That's it I say!"

"You can do it, Robin," said one of the Lucinas. "I know you can."

"I believe in you," the other Lucina murmured.

" _Ignore them_ ," thought Robin, shaking his head. " _I still can't tell which one is the real one_." He began pounding his forehead with his fist. " _And if I can't tell, then I shouldn't listen to them. I can't trust what they say…_ " He opened his eyes, suddenly struck by a new idea. " _I can't trust either of them_."

He conjured up a plan, improvising on a strategy that theoretically countered his original approach to the problem. This whole time he was under the assumption that one of the Lucinas was true. But what if…

" _What if they're both false?_ "

Would he do that? Would Dr. Z throw a curveball this time and purposely present two imposters in order to confuse him? Robin thought back, trying to recall if the deranged doctor had said anything that hinted to the notion that the Lucina he was looking for was right here up on the stage. As far as he knew, all he had to do was choose which Lucina he wanted to rescue and it was as simple as that. If he wanted, he could very well take neither of them and have them both hanged.

" _Could I risk that though?_ " thought Robin.

It was a stretch. Assuming that both Lucinas were fakes was very risky, especially since he had no real grounds to back up that assumption. If Dr. Z was playing the game fair and square just as he said he was, then going through with this plan was a losing strategy. But at the same time, he knew he couldn't trust Dr. Z, especially not after all the crap he's put him through.

He needed a way to verify that his Lucina was on the stage.

"Whoops! Time's up!" shouted Dr. Z, holding up a skinny arm, now sporting an overly exaggerated wristwatch. "It's question time!"

Robin approached the stage, his eyes shifting from one Lucina to the other. To his dismay, both of them remained to be mirror images. There wasn't anything in their clothes, faces, or hair that told him otherwise. He even noticed that both of them had the Mark of the Exalt embedded in their left eyes.

"I'm ready," replied Robin. Was that true though? He hadn't exactly come up with any tried and true questions.

"Okay then, Robin!" Dr. Z cackled. "Choose your Lucina and ask your first question!"

Robin stood before the Lucina on his right, the first Lucina that he had encountered at the start of the trial. She stared at him with lost eyes, almost like someone who had woken up without any idea of where they were. She winced as the noose on her neck burned against her skin, but she stood brave and tall like all members of Ylissean royalty should.

"My first question is this," said Robin before taking a deep breath. "Lucina. Tonight, you and I came to Horrorland with two other friends." He paused, a hesitant thought passing through his head to tell him to turn back and think of something else. He ignored it. "What were their names?"

Lucina seemed to hesitate as well, somewhat surprised that Robin would ask her such a trivial question. Of course she knew the names of their two friends who came with them tonight! And what would be the point of him asking her a trick question?

"N-Ness," she stated. "And Pit. And I love them both dearly."

Robin continued to stare at her, his eyes narrowing on her own. Curiously, he didn't say anything in response. Instead, he turned away from her, shuffling over to the Lucina on the left side of the stage.

"Was that the answer you were looking for?" asked Dr. Z with a snicker. "If you really wanted to know, I could have told you that! You wasted your question."

Robin didn't look at him but continued to stand before the other Lucina, who gave him the same worried glance as before. She wasn't sure what to expect after hearing his first question, yet she was all the more curious as to why he had asked that question specifically.

"Question number two!" announced Dr. Z. "Go!"

"My second question is this," said Robin, staring up at her eyes. "Lucina. Tonight, you and I came to Horrorland with two other friends. What were their names?"

Lucina gave him a queer look. Did her ears deceive her, or did Robin just literally ask her the same question as he did to the other girl?

"Ness…" she said slowly. "And Pit." She said nothing further mainly because she still wasn't sure where Robin was going with this.

"What the hay?!" exclaimed Dr. Z. "Have you lost your mind!? Those questions tell you absolutely nothing about either of them! Do you want me to pull both of these levers?"

"That won't be necessary," replied Robin.

He turned around one more time, his back facing the stage again. Both of the Lucinas could feel themselves start to panic, and Dr. Z was seriously getting irritated by how calm Robin had become all of a sudden.

"Hey! It's not over yet!" he said. "You still have to choose!" He nudged both levers, the trapdoors beneath the victims giving away by a few inches.

"Robin, please, you know it's me!" cried the Lucina on the right. She could feel the noose begin to grip tighter and tighter.

"I'm begging you!" the left Lucina shouted. "Don't do this!"

Now they were really starting to panic, but strangely the madman running the show wasn't at all amused by this.

"Well, Robin!?" called Dr. Z. "Do you know the answer!?"

"I do."

Robin put both of his arms out to his side, sticking his thumbs in the direction of the cloudy sky. In a slow motion, he flipped those thumbs downwards, a sign that the execution could now commence.

There was a single thought that blew through his mind when both Lucinas called out to him. The memory was faint, but loud enough that he could clearly remember it every time he thought about it. It was a reminder from a friend he had spent a good deal of time with earlier in the evening, a question that he himself couldn't answer when she had asked him about it.

" _Why are you so indecisive all the time?_ "

"The real Lucina knows I can't come to a conclusion without hard supporting evidence," said Robin. "Therefore, these two women behind me are nothing but imposters!"

As he said those last words, he could hear the sound of the trapdoors dropping open completely. Both of the Lucinas fell through, dangling by a rope around their necks, their feet kicking and swinging like piñatas in a tornado. They started coughing, which soon changed to choking, and then finally gurgling as they desperately fought for more air.

They sounded an awful lot like Lucina, which for a moment made Robin want to turn around. Instead he remained frozen, yet still felt sick to his stomach. With his back turned to the strangling girls however, he had to force his mind to believe that they were nothing but phoneys. He knew neither of them could be the real Lucina. The real Lucina wouldn't have tried to persuade him so much.

That's how well he knew her.

Robin slammed his eyes shut tight, and for some reason he was on the brink of tears. The bloodcurdling hacks had long but ceased, and there was a high-pitched shriek for a few seconds. A final blast of white light signaled the end of the third trial, the gallows and the dead girls vanishing in a near instant. Robin realized that he had his arms wrapped around himself and that he was now on the ground, and for a brief moment, he thought he heard someone crying.

There were coughs and sniffles coming from behind him, and although he hadn't heard her cry in a long time, he knew that voice from anywhere. He scrambled to his feet to see the sight of Lucina on her knees in the middle of an empty stage. Dr. Z was nowhere to be found.

Through her tears, he saw her eyes, and when they met, she nearly trembled.

"Robin…"

Robin climbed onto the stage, embracing her in a near instant. They were a mess, but most importantly they were together. Robin couldn't recall himself ever being this happy since he stepped foot in Horrorland. He squeezed her as tight as he could, refusing to let anything take her away from him again. And under her repeated "sorry's" and "thank you's," he was just happy to hear her voice and feel her touch. He missed her so much.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** If I wasn't clear on how Robin managed to figure out both Lucinas on the stage were fake, I'll summarize it here. Basically, he knew that no matter what questions he asked, Dr. Z probably had the fake Lucina filled with as much information as the original one, and Robin knew this because Dr. Z knows so much about him for a reason that hasn't been explained yet. Thus, thinking of specific questions was pointless, so he banked on choosing the correct Lucina based on their responses. Since he asked the same question to both of them, there was no telling which was which, which meant that he had no choice but to guess. Finally, since Lucina knows he hates guessing, there's no point in her trying to convince him one way or the other, and that's where both of the Lucinas failed, for both of them tried to persuade him not to let them die in an attempt to tug at his heartstrings. Talk about thinking three steps ahead!


	6. Rules to Die By

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

* * *

Chapter 6: Rules to Die By

* * *

With the third trial finally completed, Robin and Lucina made their way off the stage, returning to the center of the plaza in order to figure out where their exit was. Even though the game was over, Horrorland's face remained grim, as if the very theme park itself was defying the rules established by the one and only Dr. Z. As far as Robin knew, once he completed the trials, he was given free return to the real world, or the true dimension, or whatever the heck home was supposed to be relative to here. Despite all this, everything was still the same, from the rusted streetlights to the decrepit faces beneath his own boots.

"What do we do now?" asked Lucina. She was still a little shaken up from the third trial, but she carried on as her training as a swordsman led her.

Robin had explained to her the circumstances of the situation, as well as the gut-wrenching tests he had to go through in order to make it here. Apparently, Lucina had no memory of how she ended up in this twisted reimagining of Horrorland, only to mention that she blacked out at some point between last seeing Robin and heading to one of the facilities for a bathroom break. When he told her that Dr. Z was the madman behind these trials, she was flabbergasted, but more so confused that encountering said madman would result in not a reward, but a punishment.

"The contest was a lie," said Robin. "The brochure, the quiz, it was all a trap used to lure guests into this dark plane."

"So Dr. Z was never…" replied Lucina, her words trailing off as she thought back to the mysterious man on the bottom corner of their old map.

"He was never on our side." Robin shook his head. "Every year, they open this park as a means to steal the souls of innocent people. Those who are unfortunate enough to meet Dr. Z in Horrorland are taken by him and brought here, where they are tortured and drained for the rest of their lives. Horrorland was never an amusement park. It's a slaughterhouse."

Saying it out loud like that sent a chill down his spine. They may have passed the test, but as far as he knew they were still trapped in Horrorland. Not only that, but Dr. Z had mysteriously vanished after the incident on the stage. Now Robin and Lucina were alone, which wasn't nearly as comforting as Robin thought it would be.

"We have to get out of here," said Lucina all of a sudden. "Let's find Pit and Ness, and then we can—"

"They're dead," interjected Robin, but he refused to look her in the eyes upon saying that. She caught him at a glance upon hearing his response, naturally in denial of his statement. "They were killed during the other trials."

He barely had the heart to tell her, but was that really his fault? Was it his fault that his friends were kidnapped, held against their will, and brutally murdered at the hands of some psychopath who had nothing better to do with his time than to play with his food?

No, there was no way Robin could accept that as his own fault.

"It can't be…" said Lucina, and already Robin was starting to notice her tremble.

"Get a hold of yourself," he replied, putting an arm on her. "I tried my best to save them, but they were both pulled from my grasp at the last possible moment. We're the only ones left now. We have to put an end to Dr. Z and shut Horrorland down permanently."

His words did help a lot, for Lucina trusted Robin more than anything else in the world. Likewise, to put it frankly, Robin was sick and tired of this bullshit. He was through with running, worrying, always having to play by the rules. Now the game was over and it was time to take matters into his own hands.

"First thing's first," he said. "We have to find Dr. Z. He owes us tickets back to the real world."

He started to leave the square and head towards the mist again, but noticed that Lucina was still standing there beneath the streetlight.

"He has to pay for what he did to them," she muttered.

It seemed as though she was just as angry with the whole situation as Robin was, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing by any means. On the other hand, Robin always knew how to maintain a level head under extreme circumstances, for as a tactician, he knew that anger clouded the mind. A mindset like that was too risky in this realm, and so Robin went back to her to reaffirm their plan.

"We'll make him pay," he said reassuringly. "Not just for our friends, but for all the people he has taken." He offered a hand to her. "Let's go."

They disappeared through the mist, Lucina drawing her sword in preparation for some kind of battle. She was half-expecting something to leap out at them as this world was more unknown to her than it was to Robin. She could feel her feet sink into the ground with each step she took as if the earth was made up of sponge, and the constant moaning of the undead also wasn't comforting to say the least. Although Robin led the way, he honestly had no idea where he was going, and figured that the best place to find their egocentric enemy would be somewhere closer to the heart of Horrorland. Was there going to be another ghostly attraction in store?

"You two really made me angry, you know that?"

That voice.

The two swordsmen stopped dead in their tracks. Dr. Z was around here, but it was obvious that his voice was merely projecting from another speaker like he had done previously.

"Show yourself!" shouted Lucina, Falchion at the ready.

"I can't believe you, Robin," said Dr. Z, ignoring Lucina's threat. "You weren't supposed to succeed in the last trial!"

So it really was a trap. With both of the Lucinas on stage being fakes, it was theoretically impossible for Robin to have chosen the correct one. Regardless of which one he chose, the real Lucina was likely to be executed in private, while the false one would be given free passage to salvation.

"The game is over, you freak," said Robin calmly into the mist. "Let us out of here now and maybe I'll consider making your death quick and painless."

"It makes no sense! No sense!" rambled the mad doctor. "My plan was perfect! All three of your friends were supposed to die!"

"He's not listening," muttered Lucina.

"Where are you?" said Robin.

"The game can't go on so long as one of them lives," continued Dr. Z obliviously. "There must be a way to fix this…" He paused momentarily, although he could have very well just wandered away from the microphone. "Oh! I know! Why didn't I think of this before?"

His voice vanishes faster than Robin or Lucina can object to whatever plan his conniving brain was concocting.

"You know, I'm really starting to despise that man," said Lucina abruptly.

" _Starting to_?" replied Robin.

A monstrous howl suddenly echoed from elsewhere in the park, followed by the revving of a rusty chainsaw. There was a caw, a cackle, and one of the lights held up by the streetlamps went down, collapsing to the ground as if someone had literally chopped it in half.

"Gods… What is that?" muttered Lucina as she braced herself.

"There's no time to explain," replied Robin. "Move!"

They dashed off, running as far away from the maniacal man in a chicken suit as they could. The fog began to clear up, but Horrorland remained unchanged. The two friends made their way past dozens of zany attractions, Robin barely able to get a hold of where they were relative to the park's entrance. He thought he recognized this terrace as the place where he had initially split off from his friends before the nightmare began, but everything looked the same if not for the broken bloodstained buildings.

The monster's footsteps were gaining on them, its breath clearly audible by this point meaning that it wasn't too far behind. Whether it was adrenaline or a newfound lust for blood that drove it, Robin could tell that the Chicken Man was much faster than before.

"Robin, there!" cried Lucina, and he saw it just as she mentioned it. Up ahead he could see a small building reveal itself from the mist. Above the entrance was a giant billboard of a sign with Dr. Z's birdlike mask perched atop it. The sign read, "Dr. Z's Wacky World of Mirrors," with the "Wacky" and the "World" sharing the same "W" in an attempt to appeal kooky for kids. The image of the mad doctor himself wasn't very flattering as the sign was smeared with dirt and plaster, making it appear more menacing than the deranged character it was based on.

There was no mistaking that Dr. Z was in there. This is precisely where he wanted them to go.

"We can hide in there," said Robin. "Come on!"

He darted past a group of overturned picnic tables, leaping over a pile of garbage in the process. Lucina followed closely behind, but after a few seconds of running across the clearing to the building, Robin thought he heard her footsteps fade.

"Robin!"

He turned around, noticing that Lucina was no longer moving. She appeared to be struggling with something at her feet, as if someone was holding her down. No matter how hard she pulled, her boots wouldn't lift off the ground. Desperately, she gripped her leg with her free arm in an attempt to pull herself free, while the chainsaw's shriek grew ever louder.

"Something's got me!" she cried.

Robin made no hesitation to run back to her, but he felt his blood run cold when he saw what was wrong. From the earth, rotted hands of the undead had sprouted like weeds, gripping Lucina around her legs and rooting her in place. The very souls that had been taken from the real world and brought here were forcefully holding her down, the low murmurs and moans now becoming more shrill and humanlike.

There was not enough time.

"Lucina!" shouted Robin, and he pulled out his sword as if that would somehow make him catch up with her faster. He nearly froze on the spot when he saw the Chicken Man leap from the fog behind her, wielding a bloody chainsaw with one arm that flailed uncontrollably. The severed arm of the creature was still missing from before.

He couldn't reach her. She could barely put up a fight with her feet made of stone and her back facing the demon. In a reckless swing, the Chicken Man bashed Lucina across the head with the blade, a large chunk or brain spurting from her skull. It was by some miracle that she remained standing, but Robin wished that the first hit would have killed her instantly. Instead, he had to witness her horrifying mutilation, her bloodcurdling shrieks filling the night air and overpowering that of the chainsaw as the rusty teeth were thrusted right through her abdomen. Blood exploded from her chest like a water sprinkler as her own sword fell from her hand. The iron grips continued to hold her legs in place, as the saw blade was slowly lifted up, up, and up through her ribcage and towards her neck. Her cries didn't even resemble that of a human by this point, her normally blue Ylissean uniform now painted a dark crimson with the colors of her own fluids. By the time the blade had come up to her chin, she was already dead.

Robin collapsed to his knees, the Levin Sword hitting the ground and all of his energy completely depleted. The thought of running or fighting didn't even cross his mind as he sat there, staring at the mangled body of his beloved friend. Tears poured down his cheeks, but when he opened his mouth there was no voice. His body was devoid of any feeling, the weight of crushing defeat holding his shoulders down just as Lucina's feet were moments prior.

"I…"

The Chicken Man arched its head back and gave a ferocious howl, holding its arm up victoriously over its helpless opponent. It then set its beady sights on Robin, who didn't even start running until the creature began stomping towards him. Sword sheathed, he ran as fast as he could to the Wacky World of Mirrors, but he was barely moving faster than a jogger's pace. His body felt heavy, his vision going in and out as his mind began to overflow with thoughts and emotions. No matter where he looked, he couldn't get that image of Lucina out of his head, of her being rooted to the ground, helpless against the onslaught of dozens of tiny blades cutting into her skin. He wanted to puke, but something inside him was making his feet move on their own, and so he pressed on. With no other exit in mind, he pushed himself to the funhouse, reaching its entrance just as the Chicken Man pounced into the clearing.

Unlike the previous doors to the other attractions in the park, this one appeared to be automatic, and opened up immediately upon detecting Robin step up to the plate. A green light flicked on and Robin fell inside, the heavy door shutting abruptly and locking the Chicken Man outside. The creature screeched, slamming itself against the door over and over again. Robin's head was pounding with each consecutive hit despite the fact that he had his palms over his ears.

"Go away! Go away!" he cried out. "Leave me alone!"

Miraculously, the banging had suddenly ceased. The empty chamber in which he sat echoed with a metallic hum. Not a soul could be heard, and for a moment, it was almost as if Robin had become deaf. He didn't stand up though. His tears had stained his own sleeves.

With Lucina gone, Robin was once again all by himself. In the brief time that she was with him, he had a sense of hope. He thought that as long as they were together, there was a chance that they could make it out of this nightmare and return to their own world. Now, there was almost no point in going back. She had left him faster than she had joined him.

What was it that Lucina had said about him? That he was indecisive all the time? Yes, he most certainly was. Even at this point where his freedom was guaranteed as defined by the rules of Dr. Z's game, how much value could he put on a prize like that? Returning home would be returning to a world in which Lucina, Pit, and Ness no longer existed. Not to mention that their souls were now trapped in this hellish plane, doomed to an eternity of suffering while Dr. Z sings and hoots about next year's great harvest. He couldn't go on living like that, and whether his friends would agree with him or not, Robin felt responsible for the fate that had befallen them.

Sure, he could leave now. But that was a coward's way out.

"Oh my goodness!" came the sound of Dr. Z's voice over the PA system, after a brief delay of microphone feedback. "It looks like someone let the chicken out of the coop. My, my, that is most unfortunate."

Robin stood up, but he did not respond. Taking a deep breath, he reacquainted himself with his surroundings, recalling that he was now within the walls of Dr. Z's domain. The madman rambled on about some other nonsense related to the Chicken Man, but Robin knew better than to let the mind-games mess with him. He made his way past the pay booth and into the mirror maze.

Mirror mazes were an attraction that Robin was never particularly fond of as the whole gimmick behind the mirrors was the illusion factor. Realistically, it's just a maze that's harder to navigate, but determining which paths are real and which paths are walls is relatively easy as most of the mirrors will have fingerprints or other smudges on them due to other people traversing the maze. Unlike the funhouse, these mirrors were not distorted, and showed exact reflections of Robin's own face. Seeing the dirt and bloodstains on himself was almost shocking to him.

"I know you're upset because Lucina's dead," said Dr. Z, "but that's the aim of the game my friend. On the bright side, your ticket home is just at the end of this maze! And don't worry; I won't throw any tricks at you this time. You _did_ complete all three trials just as we agreed upon after all!"

Lies. They were all lies and Robin knew it. The fact that Lucina was killed outside of one of the trials only proved that Dr. Z never had any intention of letting Robin's friends escape this realm alive. This whole event was just an excuse for Dr. Z to keep them here, while at the same time getting some entertainment out of watching Robin run around like a rat in a maze. He didn't even trust this mirror maze either after what happened outside. What's to stop Dr. Z from opening the back door to let the Chicken Man run loose again?

"You are a cheater," said Robin. "And a coward."

He made his way into a room with several mirrors all facing him. He could see the anger in his own reflection, but each reflection seemed to carry with it its own feelings. Regret. Malice. Grief. One of them was smirking too, and Robin knew the reason why.

"I'm no cheater," replied Dr. Z. "You know as well as I do that when the stakes are high, the house always wins! Besides, I promise to keep my end of the deal, so you can stop complaining and start moving. I'm getting kind of bored waiting for you to get here."

Robin wanted to hate him. Heck, he wanted to yell and scream, and break every single mirror in this stupid maze. He didn't though, for unbeknownst to Dr. Z, Robin was formulating a plan. And this plan didn't by any means involve finding the masked man and smashing his teeth in with his fist. No, Robin knew that any kind of force would only be easily avoided, for Dr. Z controlled the very air that he breathed in this dimension. If going through those trials had taught Robin one thing, it was that this game can't be won through cheating.

The only way to beat Dr. Z is to beat him at his own game.

" _And_ _therein lies the weakness_ ," thought Robin. " _Lucina. Ness. Pit. I will avenge you all. Even if I die trying, I'm going to take this whole amusement park down with me. That is my promise to you._ "

Robin expertly slipped through the maze, reaching dead ends at times, but ultimately not coming in contact with any of the mirror walls. The mirrors reflected his own look of determination, his mind finally set on a decision that he was going to see through from beginning to end. Dr. Z could pester and dissuade him all he wanted, but Robin couldn't hear him anymore. All he could hear was his own footsteps, the memories of his friends taking over any sense of doubt in his mind. They believed in him, and they were a part of the very soil that kept Horrorland standing.

Finally, Robin escaped the maze, reaching another metal door with a glowing exit sign above it. He didn't hesitate. He pushed through the door, and as he expected there was Dr. Z sitting in a small boxed room at a table. The room seemed to be of the same make as the room where Robin had discovered Ness' body, where there were no windows, the only means of escape being the door guarded by the masked man himself.

Dr. Z was in the flesh, raising a skeletal arm towards Robin like a dying man in a hospital beckoning for a dear friend to enter.

"You made it," he said, his mechanical voice echoing within the small chamber. "Now, shall we discuss the terms of your departure?"

"Hardly," replied Robin as the door behind him closed on its own. "I'm not ready to leave just yet."

An eerie silence befell the two as they stared at each other from across the room. Despite the fact that there was no draft, Dr. Z's purple cloak appeared to sway in midair. The mad doctor twitched his head sporadically, much like a bird does when scavenging for food on the ground. Seeing him turn his head reminded Robin just how long the beaklike mask was.

Dr. Z laughed.

"You put on a good show, Robin," he said. "You're the first contestant who's ever been able to make it through every single trial." He sighed. "You've outlived your usefulness though. Go on." Dr. Z raised an arm, pointing a sharp talon behind at the door. "Your real life is just beyond there. You will return to Horrorland as if you had never left." He folded his talons together. "Your friends however, are to stay here."

"It's a prize for fools, and I am done playing the fool," replied Robin sharply. "I have a proposition for you."

Dr. Z arched his neck to the side curiously.

"Okay…" he said.

Robin raised a finger toward his enemy. There was no turning back now. Now was not the time to change his mind. That's the Robin that got them into this mess in the first place.

"Dr. Z," he said. "I challenge you to a new game, winner take all. If I win, my friends and I are to be sent home and our lives returned to normal immediately."

Dr. Z didn't seem to react at all at first, although he did cough a mock laugh out either due to being impressed or surprisingly letdown by the size of the wager.

"That sounds like a pretty big loss on my part," replied Dr. Z nonchalantly. "And what, pray tell, am I to gain when you inevitably lose?"

"You will get me," said Robin. "If you win, my soul shall remain in here Horrorland for all eternity." Robin clenched his fists, but not once did he look away from the man in the mask. "I wager my soul in exchange for the freedom of my friends."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** A thousand thanks goes out to Paradigm of Writing, MP36PH3S, potatoman098, CGStrykerz, flowslikepixelz, SolarEnergy07, and JintoSpice11 for leaving reviews last chapter. Also thanks to those of you who followed between the last update and now. I apologize for waiting so long, but it's been hard for me to decide on where I wanted this story to go. I know where I'm going to go with the ending, but the challenging part will be getting there. After this chapter, I'm predicting two more chapters before calling this story complete. Thank you to all for reading and I hope to see you next time for Chapter 7: Endgame!


	7. Endgame

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

* * *

Chapter 7: Endgame

* * *

At first there was no response at all from the man in the mask. He just sat there, slouching, somewhat bewildered by Robin's unusual decision. Whatever he found funny about this bet had dissipated a while ago.

"All or nothing then," said Dr. Z suddenly. "That's a pretty bold move on your part. Knowing what you know about Horrorland though, it makes me wonder if you have something else hidden up your sleeve."

"If I did, then you would know about it," replied Robin calmly. "You know so much about me as it is." He came forward, taking a seat at the table across from Dr. Z. "I can assure you however, that I am one hundred percent serious about my challenge."

"Your challenge," Dr. Z scoffed. "I have no reason to accept it. I already got what I wanted, so go ahead and take that smug smirk of yours to the exit."

Robin had a feeling he would say this. In truth, with his friends gone, Dr. Z was probably better off not risking his newly harvested souls. Any real strategist would see the flaw in this agreement, and would immediately back off from such a challenge. Like all good gambling games, why continue when you are already ahead? The pride of a man can be detrimental to the brain, and that's exactly what Robin wanted him to think.

"I can if you wish," said Robin. "But I'd be doing you a favor if I did that."

"Hm?"

"I know what's behind that door, and it's not my freedom." Robin put his hands together, his eyes focused on the pupils of the madman's bird mask. "You never intended for me to leave this place."

Dr. Z remained still, contemplating whether or not he could call this bluff. Nevertheless, the more he stared at Robin, the more he had to believe him. He cawed out a chuckle, hacking on his own breaths before sitting with his back against his seat.

"You never cease to impress me," he said. "You're right; that door is a trap. Stepping into the next room will only result in you falling through the floor where you'll be impaled by a pit of spikes. A little less flashy compared to what you've seen, I know, but this is the post-show and most of the audience has already left before the traffic gets too busy."

"As you can see, I have nothing to lose," continued Robin.

He paused, expecting Dr. Z to give him the most predictable rebuttal. Something along the lines of, "I could just kill you right now if I wanted," but instead the mad doctor said nothing. He appeared to be thinking again, weighing his options, determining if this game that Robin was talking about really was a game, or something much bigger.

"That still doesn't change anything," replied Dr. Z eventually. "There's no point in me playing your game on account of me having too much at stake."

"There's no point in me refusing to play on account of me having nothing at stake," said Robin seriously. "In any case, you're a master of games—or so you claim to be. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense for you to turn down my challenge." He smirked. "Unless of course you're too chicken."

Dr. Z seemed to be more agitated by the pun than the message Robin was trying to tell him.

"This was your plan," muttered Dr. Z. "You can't win, so you'd rather go down with a fight."

"A fighting chance is still a winning chance," replied Robin. "Although, I'm surprised you're so hesitant to accept. I thought this was supposed to be an amusement park?"

"It is, and you're right." Dr. Z sat up. "It wouldn't be fair of me to turn down a guest from playing one last game before his death sentence."

"So you'll agree to my terms?"

"Not so fast." Dr. Z stuck a bony finger in front of Robin's face, but the tactician did not flinch in the slightest. "I'm not about to just let you walk out of here willy-nilly if—by some miracle—you manage to actually beat me. I'll agree to play your game, Robin, on one condition." He produced an hourglass from under his cloak, and a rather large one at that. The frame was completely black, the sand within a contrasting white that began falling pebble by pebble as soon as he set it on the table. "Tell me my name before the time runs out, and you may consider your challenge won."

Robin stared at the sand, tracking each and every particle as it made its way from his pool of minutes to the pile of expired seconds. Dr. Z had thrown a curveball at him yet again, this time adding an additional condition in order for him to claim victory. It seemed he had left Robin without much choice except to seize the opportunity that he had been presented with. Dr. Z would indeed play along, but only on the condition that his rule would be included in the game.

"Always gotta have it your way, don't you," muttered Robin.

"Time's a-wasting," replied Dr. Z nonchalantly. "If you want to win, I suggest you state the terms of your challenge before your five minutes are up. The game has now begun."

Robin extended a hand towards the birdman, to which Dr. Z accepted mechanically. His grip was cold, sharp, and even now Robin still couldn't tell if the man was entirely human.

"We have an agreement then," said Robin, which is all he needed to hear. "Our freedom or our souls."

"Sure, we have an agreement," replied Dr. Z. "But you're being way too optimistic about it. There's nothing stopping me from pulling the trigger right now, ending it all before we've even started."

"That wouldn't be any fun though, would it?"

One chance. One chance was all it took for him to fix the mess that he had stumbled into tonight. And if Dr. Z could give him that chance, then there was still hope for survival.

The madman chuckled. "It's Halloween."

The game was now on thanks to Dr. Z's playful nature. Convincing him to participate in the game was probably the most difficult part of the challenge, but now there was no turning back. Robin had to think of a game that would put the odds in his favor, unlike the three trials where he had the disadvantage. Given Dr. Z's knowledge about Robin and his history however, it was likely that he would be able to see through Robin's tricks should he try to pull a fast one. This meant that in order for him to win, Robin would have to propose a game in which neither he nor Dr. Z could predict the outcome.

In other words, he needed a game of chance. And he hated to admit it.

With twenty seconds already passed, Robin couldn't afford to waste any more time. He had to beat this game as well as figure out Dr. Z's true identity. Failing to achieve either of those objectives would undoubtedly result in his soul being trapped here forever, not to mention the souls of his friends.

Without hesitation, he reached into the sleeve of his robe, producing a small box of cards with black markings over it. This was his first time looking at the box since he had won them from that game booth earlier in the evening. He recalled that the man who had given him the cards had mentioned some strange property about them, but he shrugged it off at the time to spite his own superstitions. He was kicking himself now as he studied the squiggly characters crawling over the box.

"Ah, a deck of cards," mused Dr. Z. "I expected as much. You're probably thinking that a card game would make our chances of winning an even fifty-fifty. So what's it gonna be? Crazy Eights? Old Maid? How about a few rounds of Go Fish?"

"Not quite," replied Robin, opening the box and slipping the cards from their holder. As expected, the backs of the cards also had markings scribbled all over them, but their faces appeared to be as normal as any other deck. He quickly located the Jokers and set them aside before cutting the deck and shuffling them like a casino poker dealer. "I have something much simpler in mind."

He firmly set the deck in the center of the table just next to the ticking hourglass.

"We'll play Blackjack," stated Robin calmly. "One round. The loser of the round loses the game."

Dr. Z seemed unfazed by the tactician's proposal, and was more amused by the fact that he was letting him be the dealer. In a typical casino game, the dealer normally had the advantage since multiple players would compete simultaneously in order to beat the house. Here in Horrorland however, Robin was on his own, the single player who would play Blackjack with a dealer who could twist the very dimensions of the room to his whim.

"Blackjack, eh?" replied Dr. Z, plucking the deck from its position with his talon-like fingers. He shuffled the cards left to right, and then left again in a repeating cycle. "You really are desperate."

Dr. Z was well aware that the outcome of Blackjack was almost entirely based on luck—especially in a game with two players. And with only one round to worry about, if either one of them was dealt the wrong hand, then it looked like they were about to have a very short game.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," said Robin. "You may have supernatural powers in this realm, but even _you_ can't predict the future."

"So you're going to rely on chance then." Dr. Z chuckled before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "It's that kind of thinking that got you trapped here in the first place!"

"I'm well aware of that. Stop stalling and just deal the cards already. Let's try to make it at least a little entertaining for our audience."

Four minutes on the timer and Dr. Z had replaced the deck on the table. In an instant, he had flipped up two cards, sliding them in front of Robin, while he himself flipped over one more before finally dealing another card facedown.

The rules of Blackjack are fairly straightforward. Each player is given a pair of cards, each representing a specific numeric value based on the face of the card. The goal of the game is to possess a hand that has a sum close to but does not exceed 21. Anything higher and that player would be automatically kicked from the game, or simply defeated. A Jack, Queen, and King of any suit respectively represent a value of 10, while any Ace contains the value of either 1 or 11 depending on the player's choice. So for example, if a player was dealt a 5 of Hearts and a 9 of Clubs, they would have a total point count of 14, which is less than 21, but still not close enough to be considered a potential threat. Players can choose to draw (or "hit") additional cards from the deck, but the moment they exceed 21, they are automatically out of the game. It was a game of chance in every sense of the word, the only real skill involved being how well players could count cards, or make the right judgement based on their given resources.

"Sorry Robin," snickered Dr. Z. "I guess today just isn't your lucky day."

The two cards that Robin had been dealt were the 4 of Clubs and the 7 of Spades, giving him a miserable score of 11. He now had the option of holding what he had or going for another hit, which honestly didn't guarantee him a win. Dr. Z, on the other hand, was sitting pretty with his very own Ace of Spades, essentially giving him a score of either a 1 or 11. In any case, his facedown card was safe since regardless of what the value was, it was impossible for him to exceed 21 given his current hand.

"Not what I was hoping for…" muttered Robin, looking down at the two cards before him. His eyes found themselves peering at the hourglass, but he still had plenty of time to think about his next move.

"It's a shame really." Dr. Z arched his head slightly. "You come all this way in hopes that you'd be able to finally best me only to find that even fate isn't on your side." The masked man snuck a peak to his mystery card before placing it back down on the table. "What an anticlimactic way to end the night."

Robin was at a bit of a standstill, unsure of how to proceed. Realistically, he had no choice but to go for another hit, since at worst Dr. Z was ahead of him by 1 point. The Ace alone already had the score tied, which meant that if he didn't go for the draw, then he had absolutely no chance at winning this game.

" _I have to keep playing_."

Robin firmly tapped the table with his palm, to which Dr. Z responded immediately. A facedown card found its way from the top of the deck to Robin's side of the table.

" _9 of Diamonds_ ," he thought as he examined the card. " _Not good._ "

Now his score was up to 20, but now that was cutting it way too close. It was likely that going for one more hit would overshoot the goal. He cursed to himself as he tried to scrounge for a better option.

" _Don't panic. It's not over yet. It's not…_ "

He opened his eyes upon hearing that Dr. Z was slowly clapping in amusement.

"You've got a pretty good poker face," he said. "But you can't hide anything from me. This game's over." Dr. Z drew another card, adding it to his hand. Now he had two unknown variables at his disposal. "Some tactician you are. What was that line you always said? You're always three steps ahead?"

Hearing one of Robin's famous quotes coming out of Dr. Z's mouth almost made him drop his card. There's absolutely no way he could know about that phrase unless he partook in or spectated the Super Smash Brothers tournaments. Robin knew this for a fact, yet somehow this masked man defied it. He's Ylisse's most renowned tactician? Dr. Z already knew that. He's a member of one of the most secret and powerful organizations in the universe? Dr. Z already knew that too. He can use swords, magic, and also shouts corny catchphrases in the heat of battle? Dr. Z is way ahead on that one.

It's almost as if this lunatic had been with him the whole time, memorizing his every move.

"You're all talk," said Robin casually.

"Oh?" Dr. Z, despite his lead, seemed rather amused by that accusation.

"No matter what you say, at the end of the day, you're just a cheater. I saw it firsthand during the trials, and again here you are trying to pull the same stunt." Robin scoffed. "It's getting old."

"Mind-games," replied Dr. Z. "You can't tell me you haven't figured that out by now."

"Call it what you want, but I know a bluff when I see one. You make it sound like you know everything about me—even the very cards that I hold in my hand. You know at this very moment who is winning and who is not; you're cheating."

"Oh come on now," said Dr. Z nonchalantly. "Is it really cheating when you're cards are practically on the table? You're forgetting that you're in _my_ world, Robin. I know every ride in this park, every wheel on every roller coaster, every candy machine on every street corner, and most all… I know every one of my guests. It's like I said before: As long as you're here, you can't hide _anything_ from me."

This was indeed a fool's game. With his home advantage, Dr. Z could see every card the very moment Robin picked one from the deck. It gave him an edge that would make even the world's best poker players jealous. He was fighting a war where the enemy strategist already knew his strategy, and to be frank, that was a challenge that Robin had yet to face in his career as a tactician.

" _He really is ahead of me_ ," thought Robin as he stared at the masked man across the table. " _He knows my every move before I'm about to make it. No matter what I call, he'll know the best way to react when it's his turn._ "

Two minutes remained on the clock.

"Hurry up and make your move," said Dr. Z. "I have a date with another lost soul after this."

Robin studied the playing field as his mind raced for a potential solution to the problem he had boxed himself into. His score was at 20, but his victory was not nearly ensured. All Dr. Z had to do was reveal his two cards, and if he really did know what Robin's hand contained, then it was likely that he already had a winning score under his belt. Even in the case of a draw, the rules of Blackjack ensured the dealer's victory.

" _He wants me to hold_ ," thought Robin. " _But doing so is too risky. If he has a King or a Queen…_ "

With twelve face-cards in the remaining deck, the chances of Dr. Z having at least one of them was fairly likely. That chance alone was all Robin really had to make his judgements on.

" _Hold on. Just calm down for a second and think about this._ " He closed his eyes. " _If I end my turn and Dr. Z's score is already higher than mine, I lose. If I end my turn and his score is less, then he'll draw, but the odds are still in his favor even in that case due to the Ace in his hand. Now, if I draw instead, then he'll know right away how to counter me. He'll know as soon as I…_ "

"Hey!" hollered the maniacal Dr. Z. "Earth to Robin!" He snapped his bony fingers in front of his face, effectively breaking him free from his own thoughts. "Are you going to play or are you going to sit there and twiddle your thumbs all night?"

" _I have to play blind._ "

Robin glared at the cloaked man.

"I figured it out," he said.

"What?"

Swiftly, Robin drew a card from the deck, but he did not look at it. Instead, he kept it facedown beside his other cards, now giving him a score of 20 plus some unknown value. Did he overshoot?

"I hold," he stated flatly.

At first, Dr. Z didn't say anything. He kind of just sat there frozen like a statue, although if he had a face, he'd probably be going cockeyed right now. The stern silence was a sure sign that Robin had made the right choice, and soon enough his classic devilish smirk found its way onto his face.

"Y-You hold?" asked Dr. Z. Despite his earlier confidence, he sounded rather surprised by Robin's play. "You don't even know what you drew!"

"I don't," replied Robin. "But neither do you."

He did it. He found the one weakness in Dr. Z's horrifying theme park. There were eyes all over Horrorland, eyes that could observe and remember each and every detail in the park. Even the park's guests weren't safe from it. Dr. Z could learn anything he wanted about anyone, including their thoughts, hopes, dreams, even the people they cared about. But there was one thing that his powers didn't allow him to see.

"The unknown," said Robin. "You can see anything and everything that goes on in this world, but you don't know that which has yet to be discovered. You rely on the knowledge of others, using it to your advantage in order to tear people down little by little." Memories of his fallen friends flashed through his head. "You tried to break me, taking away my friends, torturing them, killing them, and putting the blood in my own hands. You couldn't see all of it though. You couldn't see the bond that I share with Lucina, which is why you had to cheat in order to kill her. And as we've now witnessed, you can't know what I don't know. My mind is just a bank of free information, all of which is ammunition to be used against me." Robin crossed his arms. "You're no master of games. You're a joker, like the ones that came with this deck of cards."

Robin's theory was met by more silence, but he noticed that Dr. Z was carving claw marks onto the top of the table with his own grip. He thought he heard the cloaked man breathing furiously like gears grinding against one another, as if it had suddenly become a bit too hot under that mask of his. A few seconds later and Dr. Z regained his composure, brushing off Robin's statements like they meant absolutely nothing.

"Fine," he said grimly. "You found my blind spot. But that still doesn't change anything. You have sixty seconds to figure out my name and win this game, so unless you have a mind reader somewhere in that robe of yours, I suggest you start guessing. I'll give you a hint: The name starts with the letter 'Z'."

Dr. Z examined his hand, but as for which of his two options he was going to go for, he remained hesitant. With no way of knowing what Robin's mystery card was, he essentially had a moderate chance of making the right call. Either he draws and gets the card he needs to complete his score, or he draws and overshoots the minimum goal.

"You have to take the hit," said Robin all of a sudden. "If you hold and I get more than 21 points then the game is over."

"Don't think you're so clever," replied Dr. Z "You could be digging your own grave as you speak."

"Why don't we let Lady Luck decide then?"

Hesitantly, Dr. Z placed a hand on top of the deck. He eyeballed the hourglass, and for a few seconds he didn't move his arm a single inch.

"Hey, no stalling. Remember our terms?"

"I'm not stalling," said Dr. Z, lifting the card from the deck. "I'm just savoring the moment before I watch you squeal in agony!" The 4 of Clubs was raised for all to see, and despite Dr. Z's attempt at intimidation, it only made him look like a fool as the card fell from his grasp and his other cards were flipped face-up by some unknown force. There in his arsenal sat the Ace of Spades, the 9 of Hearts, the King of Diamonds, and the 4 of Clubs, all of which gave him a final score of 24 at best. "The house wins!" cried Dr. Z spontaneously, jumping from his seat and pointing a skeletal finger at Robin. "You had 20 points, so in order for you to win you would have had to draw one of the Aces! The odds have always been against you! And you still don't know my name so good luck figuring that out in thirty seconds!"

The tables had turned and now Dr. Z was the one backed into a corner. He really had no counter to Robin's tactic, and now with his weakness exposed, all Robin had to do was go in for the kill.

"I'm not falling for it this time," replied Robin seriously. "The fact that you know who I am means that you also know the things that I don't want to hear. Therefore, it would be unwise of me to trust anything that comes out of your mouth. Not that I have trusted anything you've said this entire evening, but there _is_ one thing you mentioned earlier that had me questioning my own existence in this realm…"

Robin glanced at the hourglass, seeing his remaining seconds dwindling fast. There was no time to figure out a perfect solution. He had some evidence on Dr. Z's true identity, and that evidence was all he had to go by. It was now or never.

"You know my every move before I'm about to make it. You know my job, my hobbies, my friends; you know the very cards that I hold in my hand. You even know my catchphrases, lines that I myself had created during my travels in Ylisse. There's only one person in the world who could possibly know all these things." Robin flipped over his last card, revealing the Ace of Hearts. He had achieved a perfect 21. "Myself."

The hourglass shattered, the white sand spilling all over the table. In a near instant, the deck of cards had somehow scattered to all four corners of the room. It took Robin a moment to realize that Dr. Z had hunched forward like a puppet on a string. A crack in the metal of his beak echoed in the chamber, followed by several more, before the entire mask crumbled to dust before Robin's very eyes. For the first time since the nightmare began, Robin finally got to see his tormenter, and just as he had predicted, the man was no stranger.

" _I'm always three steps ahead. Always._ "

The resemblance was unmistakable. From the shimmering silver locks to the scowl on his lips, Dr. Z was Robin to the very flesh and bone. It was like staring at his own reflection, albeit a reflection that was hell-bent on killing the person outside of the mirror. The heavy breathing had somehow become human, but the dark glare from the doppelganger remained still and vengeful.

"I thought I got rid of you years ago," said Robin, closing his eyes in shame. "I thought you were dead, erased from the very fabric of history. Yet here we are."

"I was never gone," replied the unmasked Dr. Z. Even his voice sounded the same as Robin. "Just forgotten. I'll never forgive you for what you did to me."

During the Grima Crisis, during Ylisse's era of turmoil, Robin had fallen victim to a dreadful parasite. A parasite so powerful that it had possessed him to turn against his friends, and bring the world to its very knees by raising the dark dragon of legend from the grave. Grima had enslaved him, producing a vessel that not only looked like him, but spoke like him, and ultimately thought like him. This other Robin was meant to bring about the world's destruction, but was ultimately defeated by Robin's own hand with the help of his trusted friends.

"So you came here to plot your revenge," said Robin, but he was really thinking out loud in order to piece the puzzle together for himself. "You created a haunted theme park, and used the attractions to steal the souls of the innocent."

"I was going to resurrect myself. I was going to return and finish that which had already been started." Robin noticed the false tactician clench his fists. "But then you had to show up… with that _girl_."

"You were going to just kill me here," continued Robin, "but that wasn't enough for you. You wanted more. You wanted to see me suffer."

"I wanted you to know the pain that I felt when you struck me down. I was cast away, forced to wander this empty plane for the rest of my existence until the day when I would eventually gather enough energy to return to the world above. It matters no more." The cloaked figure sat down again, hunched over in defeat. "I should have known better than to underestimate you."

"That's the second time you've made that mistake," replied Robin. "I guess some things never change. By the way, why did you decide to go with the name 'Dr. Z'? This whole time I've been trying to figure out what the Z stands for, but honestly that one has me stumped."

Dr. Z sighed. "The Z stands for 'Zero'. As in, that's all I am as long as I'm trapped in this park. I'm nothing, absolutely non-existent, zero. And now that you've won, I have no choice but to move on to the next life that fate has in store for me. You see, when I created this realm, I established a set of laws, one of which states that if I, the game master, am ever defeated, then I must give my title to one who defeats me. Horrorland needs a ruler at all times, someone who can continue harvesting the souls of the unfortunate for as long as the world continues living."

"Well count me out," replied Robin. "I just want to go home with my friends."

"Oh come now, it's not as bad as it sounds," the other Robin said casually. "The first few weeks can be fun for a little while. That's all before it starts to get really repetitive though, plus having to wait once a year for Halloween can be kind of boring. You wonder why I play so many games around here."

"I play a lot of games," said Robin, "but Horrorland is not one of them. And personally, I think I've overstayed my welcome here." He stood up with no intention of waiting any longer. "Give my friends back and send us home. And tear down this stupid theme park while you're at it."

"I already told you, it's not that simple," replied Dr. Z. "Horrorland needs a ruler. That's the law. Since I am no longer fit to be the king, you have to accept the title and work in my absence."

Robin could feel his blood pressure rising at the thought of permanently being trapped in this world for the rest of his life.

"This wasn't part of the deal!" he snarled.

"You have to be the new ruler," muttered Dr. Z. His body began to levitate, his feet dangling just above the surface of the table. "Horrorland needs a ruler." He reached out to grab Robin, but the tactician stumbled backwards in an attempt to get away.

"Stop this at once!" Robin shouted. "I want to go home!"

Dr. Z couldn't hear him and continued to mumble about Horrorland and its deranged laws. His eyes were empty spheres, rotating at incredible speed as he lunged at Robin again. Thankfully, Robin was able to scramble away, making his way to the door that supposedly promised his salvation.

"I beat you!" pleaded Robin. "I beat you! I'm not staying!"

He cried out as if he was debating with some kind of ominous being about the rules in this realm. He dreaded the thought of their agreement all being false though. At the very least, he expected to be released just as he was promised when the three trials had taken place.

Recklessly, he gripped his hands around the handle of the door and yanked it open with all his might. In a near instant, he was met by the sight of a one-armed man in a bloody chicken suit, a revving chainsaw screeching while the man howled a bloodcurdling shriek. The Chicken Man swung into the room, barely missing Robin as he slid against the wall. He realized however, upon hearing teeth sawing the flesh of his evil counterpart, that he had an opening to safety. He could only spare a glance as Dr. Z resisted the rusty chainsaw ripping through his neck, for the Chicken Man had somehow pinned him down to the table with his massive foot. That was the last time Robin had seen him, for he immediately bolted past the door and ran into the infinite darkness beyond it. Dr. Z's inhuman howls became distant before a final strike had silenced the madman once and for all.

Robin continued to wander through the void. He was hoping for a light, a signpost, or anything that resembled a path to the world in which he belonged. He felt his mind growing wearier, his feet becoming heavier with every step he took. Eventually he collapsed on the cold ground, but for some reason he couldn't hear or feel the faces of the undead like he did before. Something about this room felt familiar but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. The door behind him had shut.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** My dearest thanks goes out to Paradigm of Writing, flowslikepixelz, NickTheGreek, MP36PH3S, CGStrykerz, SolarEnergy07, equach, Machina per Dei, Sugarcube, Light My Crazy Diamond, and fairy of the lilly for leaving reviews last chapter. I apologize for the late update, but I hope that this chapter was worth the wait for you all. Stay tuned for the final chapter, which will be coming up in… soon. Yes. Soon. Also, has anyone seen a parody of this story floating around in the archives? My boy equach is hot on the job trying to turn this spooky story into a not-so-scary comedy! Take a look at that if you haven't yet and see if you can spot the similarities!

One final note: There's an important announcement on my profile pertaining to a certain Youtube channel that I'm starting up with a friend. If you like fanfiction and you like reviews, I implore you to check it out and be on the lookout for potential updates! This announcement will become irrelevant once the final chapter for this story is posted, so if you're reading this and there's still another chapter ahead then just ignore this paragraph.


	8. Ending 1: King of Horrorland

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for those who reviewed last chapter and those who have recently picked up this story. We are just about at the end now, but I want to quickly mention that this story has three possible endings depending on how Robin performs during the Trials. I'll explain each ending as we go along, so for this one, you may refer to it as the "bad" ending, or the ending in which Robin fails to save any of his friends and also is unable to determine the true identity of Dr. Z. Were _you_ able to solve any of the three puzzles Robin was given in this story? If not, well, then I'm sorry friend, but Horrorland has now claimed your soul.

* * *

Ending 1: King of Horrorland

* * *

Another Halloween, another fresh harvest. Robin couldn't feel any more refreshed after watching his newly obtained captives struggle for air before being plunged into the depths of Horrorland's murky underground. Their agonizing screams practically sent chills down his spine, and he loved every moment of it. He could see the life leaving their eyes, like fish entangled in a six-pack ring, desperately gasping for breath while they were slowly yanked down into the unholy quicksand. They called out to him, cursed his name, prayed to whatever god they had that somehow, someway, Robin would change his mind and let them live another day. But he couldn't do that. They were the lucky few who were chosen for this year.

It was almost strange to Robin, watching these people go under. He barely recognized them as members of his own kind. There was a man, somewhat tall with a shiny red crash helmet atop his head, a falcon motif perched elegantly in its center. Another man, slightly more delicate in build with silken hair colored like the ocean, reached up to the heavens with all his might. There was a princess of foreign lands, a young boy who had a knack for planting trees, and even an overgrown lizard who could fire bursts of flame from his nostrils on a whim. They all fell to Horrorland's might, all lucky winners who just so happened to bump into Dr. Z this Halloween night.

"Why are you doing this?" one of them cried out to him. "Please Robin, open your eyes!"

His eyes _were_ open though. _Wide_ open in fact. Even behind the guise of his mask, Robin could see anything and everything Horrorland claimed. This realm was his home, and anyone lucky enough to stumble inside would find themselves without much hope of leaving.

He continued to stare silently, watching as each person he had once come to know as "friend" sank beneath the earth, joining the thousands of unfortunate souls in the undead sea. What was left of their bodies had become nothing but mush, their bones crushed into oblivion, their organs deflated, folded up, and compressed beyond recognition. Their pain would be the coal to fuel Horrorland's menacing steam engine. Choo-choo park guests. Chew chew.

"I gave you a chance," said Robin to the silent grave. "All you had to do was beat my game. That's all."

He did indeed give them an opportunity—three times as a matter of fact. The first task involved climbing up a chimney while someone in a chicken suit threw molten coal down the shaft. That poor princess was bubbling at the seams after that. The second task had something to do with ten prisoners and multi-colored hats, although not one of the contestants could figure out the solution to that riddle. Robin actually came up with that one by himself. The final trial, the test of love, pitted two beloved friends in combat with one another. A fight to the death in a spiked pit. Nevertheless, only one emerged victorious, but the poor boy who won was practically on the verge of suicide thereafter.

So yes, Robin did give them a chance. Unfortunately, none of the folks this year were as strong as the contestant from last year. That's still the only point in Horrorland's history where Dr. Z had ever been defeated.

With no more contestants to play with, Horrorland was once again a ghost town. The true emptiness of this place is never realized until one becomes the last remaining living creature. That was one thing that the old Dr. Z had never mentioned. Sure, Robin could summon his own monsters with a wave of his hand, and sure they were trained to fetch him frozen drinks made from the brains of his captives (cherry was always an old-time favorite of his), but in the end, monsters were just monsters. And with no other people around, Robin might as well have been one of them.

It wasn't always lonely however. Besides the yearly harvest, Robin could always find solace in visiting his tent. He kept it behind the stage where Horrorland would host its absurd performances, and it was out of the way just enough so that none of the guests would notice or question him about it. It is there where he kept a lot of his personal belongings, such as his tactician's robe, his Tomes, and his Levin Sword. He had decorated it with various memorabilia, especially with trinkets that reminded him of Ylisse. He kept his favorite weapons, a Master Seal, a picture of himself and Chris (or was it Chrom?...), some flowers that had died ages ago, and a pendant that belonged to that girl.

That girl.

He couldn't remember her name for the life of him, and every time he entered his tent he would see her lying there in a tangled mess of hair and limbs. He tried his best to fix her up after the dreadful mutilation that had befallen her last year, but unfortunately he was not very good at sewing. He had cleaned most of the blood, although some of it was still crusted on her white skin. The stitches that lined her back and front all the way to her bottom looked to be under a lot of pressure. She was still miraculously in one piece however, despite her straggly hair being all over the place and her eyes refusing to shut no matter how many times he tried to close them. She was like a doll, naked and useless, but eerily the only remaining link to the life that Robin once had.

If only he could remember her name.

There he stood above her, placing a hand along her face. How he wished he could talk to her, to ask her how she felt, or if the lack of coverage made her feet a little cold. He kept her on his bed to make her feel more comfortable (not that he was ever going to use it). There was one point before Horrorland when he did know her, when he could say her name and she'd love to hear him say it. There was a time when they had saved the world together, a time where they had shared secrets and told stories, had walked through the parks and sat on a balcony. They used to be best friends, but now she was just a ghost. Or was it him?

"It'll come to me," said Robin to himself. "I just need more time to think."

He closed the entrance to the tent behind him and sat on his chair, contemplating next year's activities. He needed some new challenges to spice things up, something that blew up with lights, or involved sharp knives. Maybe something with water since he was certain that none of his contestants had ever died by drowning before. Oh, and he absolutely needed something with music. It would make the waiting games go by _so_ much quicker.

With all this time to himself, Robin continued to unknowingly stare at the body of the girl on his bed. He hoped that in remembering her name he could somehow remember the man that he once was as well.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As I said above, this is the first ending in a set of three. Each ending shows what becomes of Robin after his final encounter with Dr. Z in the previous chapter. Depending on how he did during the trials, this story will conclude with one of these endings. To add a bit of an immersion factor since Robin _is_ technically an avatar character by the rules of _Fire Emblem Awakening_ , you can place yourself in his shoes and judge how you did during the trials presented in this story. Most of you probably didn't and just read along, but for those who did attempt to solve the puzzles before Robin did, this is your chance to see if you could survive a night in Horrorland. Even if you were on the right track with solving a puzzle (heck even if you _attempted_ one) you may still consider it a victory on your part since I know that some of these puzzles were a little difficult to begin with, and my poor sentence structure probably didn't help much. So if you attempted a puzzle on your own before reading Robin's solution, then great! You're eligible to reach the "good" ending! For those that did not however, I'm sorry but your adventure stops here. Hopefully Dr. Z doesn't make your stay too painful! And for those of you who are just coming along for the ride, hang tight because the next ending will be coming up soon!


	9. Ending 2: Cluck, Cluck, Noose

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter. I now present to you the second possible ending, also known as the "chicken" ending. This ending occurs in the case where Robin is able to save at least one of his friends, but is still unable to determine Dr. Z's true identity. Also, this ending was partially inspired by equach who was cool enough to create his own parody story based on this story, so shout-outs to him for being so awesome!

* * *

Ending 2: Cluck, Cluck, Noose

* * *

"Ugh… what a nightmare…"

Robin rubbed the side of his aching head, thoughts of horrifying carnival games lingering in recent memory. Thankfully it was all just a dream. He couldn't imagine staying in this demented park, taking on the persona of Dr. Z and luring unsuspecting guests to their doom year after year. Surely that would get monotonous after a while, not to mention the fact that it was downright despicable.

He sat up noticing that he had been sleeping on one of Horrorland's numerous park benches. He was situated under a tree, in the exact same area where he and his friends had split off from each other right before the nightmare began. Just as he would have hoped, people were walking around, enjoying the various Halloween attractions. No longer was there any fog, or broken streetlights, or skeletal remains hanging out of barrels. Instead, he was greeted with a starry sky and a full moon just overhead. As the ringing bells from nearby booths drifted through his ear, he almost couldn't believe that somehow he had made it back.

He was finally home.

"By the gods, is this real?" he said to himself as he stood up. He touched his face, his clothes, and he even stomped at the dirt beneath his feet. He never would have guessed that Dr. Z would keep his word, yet here he was in the flesh, in the real world, and without a single scratch on him.

But what about the others?

He immediately scanned the area for any sign of his friends. Through the bustling crowds, he eventually spotted Lucina, Ness, and Pit standing together and chatting on the street. They all appeared to be in one piece, and judging from their looks, Dr. Z's terrible game seemed to be the last thing on their minds. He called out, but found himself stumbling before breaking into a dash until he caught up to them.

"Holy crap, is that Robin?" asked Ness.

"Wonder what's eating him," said Pit.

Robin put his hands on his knees as he panted heavily. His gaze darted from one companion to the next as his brain tried to identify a shred of evidence to convince him that they weren't real. Miraculously, he had nothing.

"You're alive," he said breathlessly. "I can't believe you're alive."

"Of course we're alive," replied Lucina with a shy smile. "Why wouldn't we be?"

Her response was bewildering. Did they not remember anything?

"Dr. Z," said Robin. "You remember Dr. Z?"

"You mean the dude in the brochure?" asked Ness, pulling out the pamphlet. As expected, the image of Dr. Z was right there in the bottom of the map, the same image that tempted Robin to play his absurd game in the first place.

"Don't tell me you don't know," replied Robin reluctantly. "He kidnapped and threatened to kill you all if I didn't promise to play his dumb games! Remember the funhouse? The clown heads?" He peered at his friends, but they all looked rather confused by his remarks. "The zombie things underground? Lucina, you know what I'm talking about right? Remember the stage?"

Despite how desperate he was to garner an answer, Lucina appeared more worried than understanding of his claims.

"Robin, I think you need to lie down again," she said. "Did you hit yourself in the head?"

His frustration only increased as he tried to think of something to help them remember, or at least come up with a way to prove that what he was saying was true. No matter what he said however, his friends simply did not believe his story. Even his deck of cards were still tucked safely away in his sleeve, unopened and unmarked from the bizarre Poker game that he had played with Dr. Z just minutes prior.

"We've been waiting for you to wake up this whole time," said Pit. "Honest! We hit the bathrooms like an hour ago and when we came back you were just lying there under the tree. Lucina said it wouldn't be polite to wake you so we waited. And that's all that happened!"

Robin gave an exasperated sigh. Although he didn't want to admit it, it really did seem as though none of the events he spoke of actually took place. It was frustrating to him, the fact that he would be the only person ever to know what he had done to save them. Perhaps this was for the best though? Perhaps it was best if his friends never knew. After all, no one would ever want to live through that experience a second time. Maybe the nightmare was best off being just that. A nightmare.

"It's okay Pit; I believe you," said Robin, shaking his head with a smile. "Forget it. I'm just glad to be back with you all again."

"Thatta boy," replied Ness, playfully punching Robin in the arm. "Now that that's out of the way, what do you guys wanna do next? Mr. Bones' Bony Bumper Cars? Oh! How about the Spooktacular Swirly again?"

"I wanna see the Crypt Carnies!" exclaimed Pit.

"Alright, alright, lead the way you two," said Lucina with a laugh. "We'll do whichever one comes first."

Ness and Pit dashed off in excitement before Robin could even react. He ended up walking side by side with Lucina as they slowly caught up to the boys. Despite all this, there was still a thorn in the side of Robin's head that made him question everything he was seeing.

" _But what if it really was a dream?_ " he thought to himself. " _What if Dr. Z never appeared? Could I have dreamt all that?_ "

Could he have? It was all still so fresh in his head. His hands still felt cold and icky from the bloodstains, not to mention he was physically exhaustion. Every time he looked at one of his friends, all he could see was their mutilated counterparts, whether it be Pit's roasted carcass or Lucina's literal split. In truth, the experience was much too real to be something he merely imagined.

And still Dr. Z was nowhere in sight.

"How can I be sure?" asked Robin as he turned to Lucina, gripping her by the shoulders. The jump in his tone scared a flinch out of her. "How do I know this is real?"

"Robin, what's the matter?" replied Lucina worriedly.

"The nightmare is over but I still don't feel safe. Why is everyone acting as if nothing happened?"

"You're the one acting strange," said Lucina, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we should call it a night for you." She tried to resist as she felt his grasp around her arms become tighter. "You're hurting me."

"I'm not convinced," he said with a glare. "This has to be a trick. You can't tell me that I'm the only one who remembers. I can't be the only one!"

"The only one who remembers what?" asked Pit from behind.

Robin turned around to face his cohort, ready to give him the ultimate theory as to why this world couldn't possibly be home, only to realize that Pit had somehow diminished in size. The white angel boy was now standing about a foot tall, smaller than a small child, and seemed to be lacking most of his defining features. His feathers were all still there, but his legs had tremendously thinned out to toothpicks, while his arms had been replaced with fluffy wings. He appeared to tap the ground sporadically with his feet, which were now talons instead of rugged sandals. His puffy hair naturally sat atop his head, however, his shrunken face now resembled that of a bird, complete with a beak and beady black eyes. As he spoke, he clucked and strutted about, pecking at the earth before tilting his head up at Robin curiously.

Robin couldn't form the words to react to the monstrosity that stood before him. What was once a beloved friend had been reduced to a wild chicken, its head resembling that of the angel Pit.

He stepped back only to bump into another chicken that sprang up and cawed at him. The face of this bird looked eerily similar to that of Ness, and so Robin backed away again. Another chicken had also somehow found its way into his own hands, but he quickly realized that it was Lucina whom he had been holding moments ago. She squawked at him, her shrunken face looking far worse than what he had seen done to her when she was murdered.

The next thing he knew, Robin had fallen to the ground, numerous chickens approaching to surround him from all over the area. Each of the park guests seemed to transform into these hideous creatures, followed by them slowly creeping up to him like mindless scavengers looking for leftovers. And just as he feared, he felt one of them peck his skin. It was just a scratch at first, probably a way for the birds to sample the menu. More pecks came soon enough, tearing through his clothes and stabbing at him like dozens of bloodthirsty knives.

" _You are the only one_ ," he heard one of the chickens say. " _You are all that remains._ "

Robin cried out, scrambling to his feet as he punched and kicked blindly at any bird within reach. Feathers fluttered through the air as more birds came diving down from out of nowhere. Chickens came hopping out of barrels, over counters and tents, all clucking and howling to sink their beaks into his meaty flesh. Robin socked Ness in the face, breaking his small neck in the process as he bolted away from the murderous creatures. Fighting them was out of the question. Instead, he ran and ran with all his might, dripping blood and other unmentionables as he scampered to find an exit, or at least a shelter where he could hopefully make sense of what the hell was going on here.

" _I'm still trapped in this nightmare_ ," thought Robin. " _I never made it out_."

As fast as they were, the chickens were held back by the fact that they were chickens. This gave Robin enough of a lead to make his way behind the main stage, past the various booths and counters that had up until this moment been busy with park guests. As luck would have it, he stumbled upon a large tent in the clearing, which was likely used by the stage performers for makeup and dress rehearsal. Without much of an option, Robin tore through the entrance, praying that whatever force was at work here would take a while before finding him.

As he expected, this tent did indeed belong to the various Horrorland performers, as multiple birdlike costumes could be seen hanging on one of the nearby racks. Some tables and mirrors were also placed about with tons of fabric and makeup equipment. Robin was hoping to at least find a clue as to where Dr. Z could have gone, but there was no trace of the villain anywhere. There was however, a single person sitting at one of the tables, indulging himself in what appeared to be a plate full of spaghetti. Or was that penne?

"M-Mario?" said Robin incredulously. "I don't… How… What!?"

His mouth nearly hit the floor as he realized that the man sitting at the table was in fact the famous mustached plumber of legend. He wore his signature red cap, blue overalls, and a smile that said he couldn't care less that this tent was about to be overrun by rampaging carnivorous chickens.

"Hey Stinky!" greeted Mario in his trademark Italian accent. "Do you have something to drink?"

Robin immediately ran up to the man, slamming his fists on the table and almost knocking his plate right off of it.

"Mario, what are you doing here?" asked Robin in confusion. Up until this point he had no idea that Mario was even in the park. Was there a chance that other members of Super Smash Bros. were also here? "Oh, never mind that; we have to leave now!"

"Um, I don't think so," replied Mario with an unimpressive gaze. "You see, you're invading on Mario's private spaghetti time. Come back in about twenty minutes and maybe I'll think about helping you out."

"You don't understand. There are monsters outside coming to kill us right this very moment! We need to find a way out of this theme park!"

Unfortunately, Mario didn't even give him a second glance as he plunged his face right into the spaghetti dish and started inhaling it all up through his mouth and nose. While he was doing this, he hummed the Mario theme song nonchalantly.

Robin nearly pulled out his own hair before the squawking outside reminded him of his objective. Before he could even react however, a puff of smoke and a lightning strike magically struck the middle of the room, surprising Mario and practically knocking him out of his chair.

"Mamaf****r!" cried Mario, spaghetti sauce drizzling down his face.

To Robin's surprise, a cloaked figure had suddenly emerged from the smoke, revealing himself to be the one, the only, Dr. Z.

"Greetings frightful guests!" said Dr. Z as he struck a magnificent pose with his skeletal talons. "Are we having a terrifying Halloween so far?"

"You!" shouted Robin as he immediately drew his Levin Sword. "We had a deal!"

"Oh, hello Robin," replied Dr. Z, apparently surprised to run into the tactician here of all places. "How come you're not dead yet?"

"Enough of this," said Robin with a snarl as he approached the madman. "I beat your game fair and square, so give me back my freedom!"

"Ah, eh, well you see." Dr. Z twiddled his thumbs for a bit before covering his masked mouth with a snicker. "I had my fingers crossed behind my back when we shook hands so… Yeah, I was lying about that. We never had a deal; sorry friendo. You were actually supposed to die…" He checked his watch. "…One minute and seventeen seconds ago. But congratulations on making it this far! I wouldn't give you a pat on the back though."

His sinister laughter almost made Robin sick to his stomach, but he shook it off when he lunged at Dr. Z with his sword. To his dismay, the cloaked man vanished upon contact and reappeared next to Mario, who was crying on the floor at the loss of his spaghetti.

"Don't get your hopes up, Robin," said Dr. Z. "Those chickens will be here for you shortly. Seriously, I'm only here to see this guy." He pointed a bony finger at Mario who was completely oblivious.

"Wahahaha," he whined. "What am I gonna do now?"

"Fear not my friend! For tonight you have been selected as the lucky winner to Dr. Z's Meet and Greet Contest! All you have to do is answer a simple question and you'll be eligible for—Hey, are you even listening to me!?"

Mario was crawling on the floor attempting to scoop up his remaining spaghetti noodles with his mouth.

"You're a sick man," said Robin with a grimace. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!" He charged at Dr. Z yet again, but as he swung his weapon, he felt sharp claws dig into the side of his wrist and pull him back. More talons soon followed as they clawed at his back, his sleeves, every inch of him as the swarm of chickens bombarded the tent. Robin couldn't even cry out as his mouth was stuffed with feathers, nonstop flapping tugging at him in order bring him where he could be eaten by the rest of Horrorland's turned guests. His sword fell from his grasp, his kicking and screaming proving to be utterly useless as he was dragged through the exit, resulting in him pleading for mercy as the beaks chipped away at his flesh piece by piece.

With the clucking and crying going on outside, Dr. Z could once again turn his attention back to Horrorland's newest honored guest.

"As I was saying, Mario, you're this Halloween's lucky winner!" he cheered. "You have the opportunity to claim riches beyond your wildest dreams! All you have to do is answer my question and you're pockets will be so stuffed with coins that you won't even know what to spend it on!"

"B-Bu…Bu-But… My spa… My spa…" whined Mario, tears in his eyes.

"Did I say coins? I meant spaghetti. You'll have so much spaghetti in your mouth that you'll probably choke and die."

"Woooooo!" cheered Mario. He then proceeded to breakdance across the floor, but Dr. Z slapped him in the face in order to make him stop.

"Very good!" said Dr. Z. "Now for your question! Drumroll please!" A drumroll immediately picked up as a spotlight from out of nowhere beamed all over the room before landing on Mario. "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10. What is—"

"I'm a super star!" shouted Mario before running through the wall and out into the park. He immediately collided with a streetlight and fell on his butt, stars spinning around his face as he mumbled in a dizzy stupor. "Mama-mia…"

Dr. Z facepalmed. "They don't pay me enough to do this job."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Welp, there you have the second ending. If you haven't guessed by now, this ending is supposed to be a joke. It kind of starts out serious due to the fact that I wanted it to be believable up until it got to the point where the chickens started popping up. Also, Mario randomly appearing in this story is really just a throwback to SMG4's Youtube videos and equach's parody story, so thanks again to both of those guys for inspiring some of this. If it makes you feel any better, there is one more ending coming up, which will be the ultimate true ending. Will Robin die? Will it all be a dream? Has Dr. Z and Horrorland truly been defeated? All these questions and more will be answered in the final update to Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare, so stay tuned!


	10. Ending 3: Nightmare No More

Robin and the Horrorland Nightmare

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 **Author's Note:** With Halloween just around the corner, I think that now would be a great time to finally put this story to a close!

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Ending 3: Nightmare No More

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Robin twisted and turned as he slept, his once pleasant nap now a living nightmare as visions of chickens and weird men in masks assaulted his mind. He thought he heard someone calling out to him, but when he tried to focus, all he could hear was the faint sound of music playing and children laughing. There was something like carnival sounds in the air, a strange contrast from the Horrorland that he was used to. Where were the moaning souls of the undead? This Horrorland was unlike anything he had experienced previously, and had it not been for the wooden bench he was lying on, he might have thought that he had been whisked away to some other demonic dimension.

"Ugh…"

A pounding headache struck him as he sat up, the world around him spinning like he was on the world's most lopsided merry-go-round. It was still kind of dark out, but fortunately the neighbouring lights from the nearby game booths gave more than enough illumination to show him the street. Children ran up and down the corners, dragging their parents by the arm to the next crazy attraction they had set their sights upon. Whatever fog that was in the air had dissipated long ago, now replaced with bright streetlamps, as well as pumpkin-shaped streamers that bridged from one telephone pole to the next. Employees, dressed up in goofy yet distinguishable Halloween costumes, guided park guests, some leading them to high-thrill rides while others attempted to lure them to their humble booths for a few free-throw games. The scent of caramel apples was fresh in the atmosphere, and once his vision had cleared up, Robin could see the stand where folks were purchasing the unhealthy dessert.

He blinked once, and then twice. He almost couldn't believe his eyes.

"I'm back?" he said out loud. The feeling had returned to him. He leaned back against the bench, kicking his feet up and then planting them firmly into the cobblestone before standing up triumphantly. "I'm back!"

While it may have been true, he couldn't celebrate just yet. If Dr. Z really did keep his end of the bargain, then that also meant that his friends were here too, and hopefully in their non-chicken states. Hastily, Robin stormed through the park, passing his gaze over every person he came across until one of them looked familiar.

There was no denying that this place was indeed the real world. If pinching himself didn't prove it, then the bloodstains on his hands sure as hell did. The people who noticed him merely figured that he was another employee, dressed in some tattered gown to give off the impression of some kind of clownish magician. A few kids had pointed out to him, taking note of the tangled mat of hair atop his head, but Robin persisted. He was dead-set on locating his friends once and for all; even if it meant tearing this place down board by board.

He eventually stumbled upon a gathering in front of the public stage while a show was taking place. The crowd was quickly beginning to grow as colorful beastlike characters pranced and jumped around to a distorted rendition of the _Monster Mash_. For a moment, Robin thought to simply bypass the group, thinking that his friends would be somewhere more isolated for whatever reason. To his surprise, Lucina, Ness, and Pit were all standing near the outskirts of the audience watching the show, yet miraculously uninterested by the dramatic display of acrobatics. Pit was the first one to notice Robin approach them, flashing a gigantic grin as if the long-lost tactician had just resurrected from the dead.

"He's alive! Great Palutena, he's alive!"

At Pit's words, Lucina and Ness also appeared to light up. The met up with him in the middle of the square, Lucina embracing him immediately.

"You did it, Robin!" she cheered. "You saved us all!"

Robin couldn't find the words to express how happy he was to see his friends again. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Lucina, nearly losing his balance in the process.

"You remember it all then?" he said, thankful that he wasn't dreaming anymore.

"You bet we do," replied Ness, who was looking great with all of his limbs firmly attached to their respective joints. As a matter of fact, all three of them looked practically spotless, almost as if Dr. Z had never laid a finger on them in the first place. "We owe you big time, man. I still can't believe you made it through all three trials."

It turned out that Ness, Pit, and even Lucina had all bared witness to Robin's horrifying adventure. The captives that Dr. Z had used in the trials were mere placeholders, while their souls were able to keep a watchful eye from a safe distance. In other words, they knew everything that had happened, which made them all the more grateful to be finally reunited with Robin once again.

"Believe me; it wasn't easy," replied Robin. "I needed to pull out every trick in the book in order to beat Dr. Z at his game. I guess I learned a thing or two as well."

He may have been a tried and true tactician, but nothing in his career could have possibly prepared him for Dr. Z's Meet and Greet Contest. If it was one thing that Robin realized after going through that, it was that no matter how skillful a player may seem, the odds can always be swayed with a little bit of luck. That in itself was one of life's greatest mysteries, one that Robin definitely planned on researching further once he returned to the mansion. He certainly considered himself fortunate to escape Horrorland with not only his friends, but his own neck as well.

"So what happened to Dr. Z anyways?" asked Pit. "I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

Robin couldn't answer that since even he wasn't sure. The last he saw of Dr. Z was him being mauled by the Chicken Man, a pretty gruesome sight considering the deranged doctor bore a strikingly similar resemblance to that of himself. If he had to guess, he probably would have thought that Dr. Z was dead, but for some reason his last words still lingered in his mind. What was it he was saying about Horrorland needing a ruler at all times?

"I don't think we have to worry," said Ness. "According to the brochure, this is the last year they're hosting Dr. Z's contest. I think the tourists finally got sick of him."

He handed the pamphlet to Robin, who noticed that truthfully, Dr. Z's contest was no longer to be held at Horrorland. Even more peculiar was the fact that the brochure also mentioned that this was to be Horrorland's final year as a theme park before it ultimately gets taken down. This was certainly news to Robin, and was a detail that definitely did not exist prior to him meeting Dr. Z.

"You don't think…" said Lucina.

"Oh yes, definitely," replied Robin, a small smirk inching across his face. The thought only occurred to him just now, but if his hypothesis was correct, then his triumph over Dr. Z had somehow inadvertently changed the dynamics of Horrorland. The park was infamous for being open only on Halloween, closed to the general public for the remaining 365 days of the year. It was an annual event that was held for the last couple of decades or so, only to be put to an abrupt halt this year. The park would vanish with the night much like Dr. Z always did whenever he was floating around to antagonize Robin.

"Aw man, that sucks," said Ness. "Now we won't be able to go next year."

"Hey, don't look so glum!" retorted Pit. "If it wasn't for Robin, we'd still be trapped in the other world!"

The _other world_. Was that really the best name they had for it? It's not like anyone would believe them if they told them the truth about Horrorland. Perhaps it was best to leave it alone so that it could disappear with the name, along with Dr. Z and all the crazy attractions that came with it. Robin was already thinking of ideas for next year's Halloween, and take it from him, there wasn't one thing on his mind that had anything to do with amusement parks. Maybe a scary movie or something, but theme parks? That was out of the question.

" _Ladies and gentlemen! Please put your hands together for Horrorland's freakiest guests! It's time for Monster Madness!_ "

At the sound of the announcer's words, the stage had exploded with a blast of smoke, followed by ghoulish creatures of all shapes and sizes running around and jumping over one another. There were plenty of recognizable costumes in the bunch, such as the timeless classics like the Wolfman and Dracula. Adults and children of all ages gathered around, enjoying the demented sights of costumed entertainers putting on their act.

"It's all behind us now," said Robin. "The point is, you're all here, and that's all that matters to me. Now come on, let's enjoy the show."

They watched the colorful spectacle of monsters blowing fire into the moonlit sky, while other characters resorted to carnival tricks such as juggling and cartwheeling. Some monsters even got off the stage to greet the guests, although there were plenty of young children who clammed up the moment they got within ten feet of one of those plastic fangs. Robin and Lucina were comfortable watching from the back, where that crowd was mostly dispersed. Pit and Ness somehow got lost in the masses, but Robin noticed that the angel boy was being held up by other members of the audience, while another furry character crowd-surfed alongside him.

"You know," said Lucina, now that the boys were out of the way, "I never got to properly thank you for what you did back there."

"Hm?" replied Robin. "What do you—"

His lips were sealed the moment he turned to her, for she had leaned over and kissed him. While the first moment was shocking, the rest of it was pure bliss as Robin returned the loving gesture.

"Heh. Oh. Wow." He was lost in a daze for a second while his mind attempted to come up with an appropriate response. "I guess that makes us official?"

"I guess so," she replied with a smile. "I can tell you've been waiting for it."

She wrapped her arms around his while they enjoyed the rest of the show. Even Robin had to admit this was the best that he had felt in the entire evening.

With Dr. Z long and gone, as well as Horrorland being on its last leg, it seemed that the guests of the enchanted theme park wouldn't have anything to worry about come this time next year. Most folks were oblivious, but the chosen few who did know about Horrorland's grim secret had plenty of reason to stay indoors on Halloween night. Nevertheless, Robin was convinced that this would be the last theme park he visited for a long, long time.

" _Alright all you spooky ghouls out there!_ " called the announcer. " _As you all know, this is Horrorland's last year! So please give one final round of applause to all of our friends who helped to make this year the most spectacular of all!_ "

The monsters got on stage and waved to the cheering crowds, the perfect send-off for Horrorland's great departure. Seeing all of the monsters acting so human was comforting to Robin, especially after having to undergo the dangerous trials with that bloody Chicken Man. He wouldn't be missing him at all, but he was given a weird reminder once he saw the deranged character climb up onto the stage to join his brothers with their bows. Even stranger was the fact that the Chicken Man on the stage had bloodstains all over his yellow feathers, nearly painting his mask in a dark shade of crimson. The contorted eyes that seemed to pop off in every direction honed in on Robin, almost as if it had been looking for him the whole time. Robin felt his blood run cold when he noticed that the Chicken Man was still missing an arm.

"By the gods…" he muttered. "There's no way…"

The Chicken Man gave one final howl to the moon before lifting up his arm to pull back his mask. The giant head hit the floor pretty hard, but Robin barely saw it as his gaze was fixated on the man underneath. For some reason, he was expecting it to be Dr. Z, but the face of the man appeared to be much older, and with a curly mustache as well. It took him a moment, but memories of this man suddenly struck him when their eyes locked with one another. From the snarky stare to the overly wide grin, this man was without a doubt the man who had lured Robin, Lucina, Ness, and Pit into playing his little game of skill earlier in the evening.

He was the man who had given him the deck of cards.

"Happy Halloween! Haw haw haw haw!"

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 **Author's Note:** One year later, this story is finally complete, and a hell of a lot longer than I originally anticipated. I'm glad to have it done for Halloween though. I can't say I'm really proud of this story due to its straightforwardness, but I blame that as a result of its length. Anyway, thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope this was the Halloween story you were looking for this year. Thanks a lot to my followers and anyone who went to the trouble of leaving a review throughout the course of this story. And most of all, have a fun and safe Halloween! Adios!


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